Infinity Unleashed

by Sedona Venez

  My fists clenched with resentment. My mind howled with rage. I longed to wrap my hands around his throat and watch the life ebb from his eyes. For hours, he pretended to be looking after my welfare, making sure my every need was attended to as I lay in bed, alternating between sleep and being awakened to eat. Hours that had melted into each other as I drifted into a semi-conscious existence, dreaming of frightening things while he sat by my side, talking to me, feeding me, keeping me company. It was fucking diabolical.

  Stepping into the seamless, glass-enclosed shower, I let the hot water wash away the stench of the drug. I needed to leave this pit of hell, but I was in his world now. Isolated from everyone I loved like a caged bird. He was desperate to keep me here, for reasons unknown to me… yet.

  I had to be smarter than he was. I had to figure out a way out of this place alive, and that meant I had to bide my time. Make him continue to believe I was still drugged and under his thumb. It would take acting skills and patience that, frankly, I didn’t possess. But I knew Mason. He had a superior, I’m-smarter-than-you streak, and eventually, I knew that he’d get sloppy, allowing my escape. And I was determined to beat that sleazy motherfucker at his own game or die trying.

  Stepping out of the shower and wrapping myself in the opulent robe, I felt refreshed but not a hundred percent better. It would take time for the drugs to work their way out of my system. Wiping the steam from the mirror, I just stared at my reflection. My hair looked a little shinier. My eyes were not as glazed over like some drug addict, but inside, I still felt fragmented. Taking a deep, cleansing breath, I struggled to clear the fog from my mind. I shook my head with disbelief. I still couldn’t believe he would stoop so low as to drug me.

  My eyes narrowed. Was Skylar helping him? I swallowed over the anger. She was the only person I was comfortable being around in the whole damn place. In between Mason keeping me company, Skylar stayed by my side vigilantly, talking non-stop about her life. At first, her bubbly chatter was annoying, but I started to find her openness refreshing.

  Plus, she seemed happy to have someone to talk to. She was a leper in the pride. They resented her for being the Alpha’s favorite and they hated that she was a hybrid. I learned she was an orphan of the Fire and Ash war like me, adopted by the Alpha twenty-three years ago.

  The most surprising part was that she believed Nick was her mate, but he refused to mate her because she was a hybrid. Even more curious was that she was under some delusion that Nick would change his mind about her when he realized that she was the only woman for him. She seemed somewhat delusional, but who was I to judge a fucked-up relationship, or lack thereof. I had my own damn issues to deal with.

  The thought of Boulder weighed heavily on my mind. Stupidly, I wondered if he was even thinking about me or if he’d moved on. Probably the latter. There was potential with him. He was the first man that I’d felt a real connection to. Now the possibility of us was completely out of the question. I just had too much drama with my life.

  Sighing heavily as I walked out of the bathroom, I refused to give in to the depression of knowing that just when I thought I had a chance of building something with him, I lost him in a span of a day.

  Sitting down on the edge of the bed, I tried not to cry like a baby as my eyes scanned the posh cell that I was locked in. My eyes stopped at the heavy crystal vase overflowing with white roses.

  Sniffing like a whiny baby, I walked over to the mahogany side table, picking out the card, opening it, reading it aloud:

  Flowers for the woman who fills my life with beauty. Honor my father with your presence tonight at dinner. Check in the closet for the present I bought you. Love, Mason.

  I crumpled the card. Love? Was he fucking serious? But as much as I wanted to stay in the suite and stew, I needed out. Walking into the enormous, panelled dressing room, I looked around with wide eyes. It was packed with clothes, all new with price tags still attached. Exactly how long was he planning to keep me here?

  My eyes gravitated toward the package. I tore it open only to find a beautiful sleek black dress with a plunging neckline and a pair of red-bottomed stilettos. I shrugged. What the hell. If I was going to be treated like a prisoner, at least I didn’t have to dress like one. Slipping off the robe, I slipped on the dress, hastily stepping into the stilettos.

  Shaking my hair out as I stepped out of the closet, I walked quickly out of the bedroom, plotting on what was needed to escape. First, find a phone. Second, scope out the castle, looking for exits. And three, wait for my moment to run like the hounds of hell were nipping at my stilettos.

  Invigorated with sheer determination, I paced back and forth, waiting for my jailers to unlock the door, giving me temporary freedom. Someone knocked on the door before Skylar stepped in, looking stunning in a red cocktail dress.

  Skylar’s lips pursed. “I don’t understand. You still look like crap. You should be healed by now.”

  “Well, thank you for the compliment,” I spat with more anger than I intended, storming over to the door. I was anxious to get the hell out of the suite.

  She blocked me, placing a hand on my forehead. “Your temperature is good.”

  I slapped her hand away. “Well, I’m not.” I snapped. “I feel like shit.”

  “Rafe is expecting your presence at dinner, but if you don’t feel well, then cancel and stay in bed.”

  No way in hell. Mason finally loosened his grip to let me out of my suite, or otherwise known as my luxury jail, and I was going to take it.

  “Nope. I’m not spending another minute in this room.” Being trapped and subjected to hours of Mason prattling on about how he was such a big, bad tiger-shifter and leader of all around him was fucking boring.

  Skylar rolled her eyes. “Well, come on.”

  The minute we stepped out of the room, the two brawny enforcers, Matt and Parker, nudged Skylar out of the way.

  Skylar snapped. “Will you two stop it? She’s not a prisoner. She’s a guest.”

  “We have our instructions, Skylar. We keep her close,” Matt snapped.

  Skylar pointed over at me. “Does she look like a flight risk? You will give us our space. Go ahead, walk ahead of us.”

  They scowled before stepping forward reluctantly, marching ahead of us, looking like two bulls in a china shop—awkward as hell.

  Skylar looped an arm through mine as we strolled down the hallway. I blinked at my surroundings. It was a completely different world. Along the walls hung paintings of men who looked like Mason’s ancestors. All blond-haired with intimidating stares. The hallway had elaborately inlaid marble floors that were more art than floor, with a towering ceiling punctuated by a stained-glass dome above the serpentine staircase.

  We strolled down like we had all the time in the world until I immediately noticed the tall, solid wood door. A possible escape route. Also visible through an interior vista was the enormous open living room. Peering around her, I spotted the expansive inlaid marble terrace. Another possible escape route.

  Skylar placed a gentle hand on my shoulder, startling me out of my mental assessment.

  She pointed to her left. “Mason gave you full run of the castle.”

  My eyes lit up.

  She continued. “As long as you understand you must behave.”

  My lips pursed angrily. “I’m not a two-year-old.”

  Skylar held out her hands defensively. “Those are his words, not mine. He also put Brutus one and Brutus two in charge of guarding you.” She nodded toward the snarling enforcers who were practically cracking their knuckles, as if they were itching to rip me apart.

  “I should also warn you,” she whispered.

  I arched a brow. “You’re giving me a warning now?”

  She smiled. “I want to prepare you for the Rafe experience. He’s not fond of Others. That’s why our pride lives in isolation. He can also be a little overbearing. He means no harm, but his social graces are sorely lacking.”


  “So in other words, Rafe doesn’t want me here,” I stated flatly.

  She shrugged her shoulders. “He wants you here for obvious reasons, but he’s just a grumpy old bastard.”

  “I’ve dealt with worse in the music business. I’m not scared.” I looked at her pointedly. “Shall we go? I’m starving.”

  We entered the massive dining room, and I couldn’t help admiring the domed ceiling with a breath-taking ribbon-glass chandelier. Leaving Skylar a step or two behind, my eyes swept to the impeccably dressed man with shoulder-length blond hair, seated at the head of a massive mahogany dining table laid with beautiful silver, linen, and china.

  Our eyes locked for a long, tense beat.

  “Welcome to my home, Valkyrie. I’m Rafe, Alpha of the Degrassi pride,” Rafe barked, looking at me with eyes more catlike than human. He smiled chillingly, with canines on full display.

  I forced myself not to take a step back with fear—standing my ground like a bullfighter. “Thank you.”

  Rafe’s eyes roamed up and down my body as if I were a piece of meat. “Beautiful.” He gave me another awful smile. “I can see why my son is so fascinated with you.” His lecherous stare made me feel dirty. He winked at me tauntingly before gesturing to the two seats to the left and right of him. “Sit. Mason will not be joining us this evening. There’s an emergency that must be dealt with.”

  I wanted to sigh with relief. I couldn’t deal with him breathing down my neck, hovering like some jilted lover. “Thank you for the invitation,” I responded grudgingly.

  “You may call me Rafe,” he stated coldly, watching impatiently as the servants bustled around. “I must say that it’s not as unpleasant as I originally thought.”

  Sitting down quickly, I arched a brow. “What?”

  The servants poured wine into our glasses.

  “Being around a Valkyrie.” His eyes narrowed. “You look like your mother.”

  I placed the crisp white napkin onto my lap. “I don’t.” Mom had a haunting beauty and weird violet eyes. A face that once seen can never be forgotten. Me, I was more what the paparazzi liked to call an exotic beauty with an abrasive, razor-sharp tongue. If it weren’t for my unique singing abilities and my devoted fans, I would’ve been written off as just another “flavor of the month” years ago.

  “Not Kara. I meant your real mother, Mist.” He laughed loudly. “I kind of miss that hot ball-buster. She was one tough woman who led the Valkyries with an iron fist. That’s what I liked that about her.” He snarled so loudly that I jumped. “Too bad she got involved with that shifty wolf king, Maxim. Scum of the earth he is.”

  Taking a sip of wine, I studied him carefully. “How do you know about Mist being my mother?”

  He smiled, displaying his sharp canines. “My dear, one thing you need to know about Others—there are no secrets, especially now that everyone is yapping about you, our newest sensation. The very last of the Valkyries.”

  “Well, Kara was… no is my mother. Mist is the woman who gave birth to me.”

  “Uh-huh!” His eyes slid down to my cleavage.

  I fought the urge to cover up, smelling the scent of lust rolling off him.

  Smelling?

  My heart raced. My senses were now becoming sharper… from the clatter of silverware that sounded like a roaring symphony to the distinct voices I heard outside of the dining room. I could hear and smell everything magnified times ten.

  Skylar’s nostrils flared. Her lips were now a hard line as she stared at Rafe with disaproval. Obviously, I was not the only one who could smell Rafe’s sexual interest in me.

  He continued, looking at me slyly. “Damn shame what those wolf-shifters did to Kara. Savages, the whole lot of them.”

  Sensing he didn’t like Kara at all, I curled my fingers around the glass stem. “Cut the bullshit, Alpha. You didn’t like her,” I stated flatly.

  “What?” he roared with power rolling off him so intense that the servants and Skylar bared their necks in submission.

  I leaned forward, not giving a shit about his Alpha power.

  “I can sense you didn’t like Kara at all. And knowing my mother, I’m sure she didn’t like you, either.” Pursing my lips, I looked at him with disdain. Frankly, there wasn’t a whole lot about the surly Alpha to like. “Now the question is how in the hell did you convince her to allow Mason to live with us?”

  He smiled. Slightly… impressed.

  “Beautiful and smart. I like that… a lot.” He licked his lips while swirling his glass of wine, staring at me intently. “Surprisingly, she came to me, requesting that my son live with her until you reached eighteen.”

  My mouth hung open with shock before I tried to recover. Now cool, professional, I asked. “Why?”

  He shrugged with mocking eyes. “She knew that your true-mate was the son of an Alpha and she wanted to slowly ease you into being around a male Alpha. My pride happened to be the most benign choice.”

  Bullshit! He is lying. “Benign? Tigers are not benign. They’re predators,” I responded sharply.

  He growled. “I’m glad you recognize that. So I would watch my tone, Valkyrie.”

  My eyes narrowed. “You brought me here… against my will, I might add. So I’ll do and say what I damn well please, Alpha.”

  He leaned back in his chair, assessing me. “Kara used us like she used you. Why would she go to such lengths to open up her home and expose her daughter to the potential of being found out by the Other Council?” He looked at me deviously. “Well, that’s something that we’ll never know, will we? But what I do know is that she picked my pride because we live an isolated existence that’s completely under the Others’ radar.”

  “And this favor was in exchange for what?”

  His face was grim. “I agreed to give my son to her with one caveat: that my son be given first right to mate you when you were of age.”

  “What is first right?”

  “The right to claim you as his mate regardless who your true-mate might be.” He smiled snidely.

  My fingers clenched around the glass. “And she agreed to give me away to Mason like some piece of property?”

  “No—unfortunately, she refused to dissolve your true-mate right. She left the choice to you to accept Mason’s claim.”

  “So in essence, all this time Mason was priming me to accept being his mate.” It still didn’t make sense. There was a time I would’ve done anything to be with him, but he rejected all my attempts. There had to be information that Rafe was deliberately hiding.

  The servants placed huge plates of steak and potatoes before us. He cut into his steak with big slashing motions, looking at me smugly. “It’s logical. We needed a leg up on any male rivals. You’ve known him all your life. So his request to claim you as his mate is a no-brainer.”

  I snorted with an eye roll. Arrogant much? I watched with disgust as he stuffed his mouth. “It’s impossible to dissolve a true-mate connection. True-mates are like soul mates.”

  Rafe’s body stilled. His eyes narrowed with displeasure.

  Skylar placed a shaking hand on his forearm before looking at me nervously. “Your true-mate connection can be severed if you grant Mason the right to claim you…” She looked at Rafe quickly. “However, only during the full moon can this happen.”

  What the fuck? My body tensed. “But the next full moon is…”

  “Tonight,” he stated loudly.

  Oh hell no! I was so out of here. “There is no way in hell I’m mating Mason tonight.” Or ever.

  Skylar smiled softly. “Of course not.”

  I breathed out with relief.

  Skylar continued. “Your mating ceremony is planned for next month at the next full moon. We need time to plan the ceremony, send out invitations, and get your dress. It is going to be absolutely beautiful. You’ll see.”

  My eyes widened. Everyone in this compound was damn crazy. She was talking about the matin
g ceremony as if it were some celebrity wedding. “I think I’ll need more than a month to get used to the idea of becoming Mason’s mate.” I bit my tongue before blurting out that it was not going to happen—ever.

  Rafe snarled. “Well, that’s all that you have, Valkyrie. One month. And you better be happy I allowed Mason to convince me that time is needed for you to learn the culture of the pride before you become Alpha female.”

  I bit my tongue. From the stubborn look in his eyes, as far as he was concerned, the mating ceremony was going to happen. It was just a matter of when.

  He shoved a chunk of meat into his mouth while jabbing his knife at me. “We’re the ones taking a risk here. You being the last Valkyrie on this realm opens a whole world of trouble for my pride.”

  I was so fucking tired of people telling me how damn grateful I should be. “Then let me the hell go!”

  The servants gasped.

  Skylar took a nervous sip of wine.

  He growled. “You would do well to show some respect, Valkyrie.” His eyes glowed before continuing. “We will never let you go. So get that shit out of your head right now. We’ve done too much work to just let you go. Besides, where would you go? There’s a bounty on your head. Dead or alive, and it’s mounting by the hour.”

  Skylar choked on her wine, looking at him with alarm. “Rafe. Please? Can we just have a civil dinner for once?”

  “What? It’s the truth. I will not go pussyfooting around the truth because I don’t want to upset her sensibilities. The truth is the truth, and unless this young lady”—he pointed at me with his fork—“wants me to stop, then I’ll go right on telling it.”

  “I want the truth. I’ve never been afraid of it before. Go on.” I cut into my steak and chewed. It tasted like sawdust, but I continued chewing.

  He snorted. “That’s what I thought. You look like a tough one.”

  “Can we move on from this topic?” Skylar asked.

  “Did Kara tell you about the start of the Fire and Ash war?” Rafe growled.