Shadows of Rebellion

by L. M. French

“Like a camp?” Pike tipped his head.

  “Mmm, no more like a circus. A really crappy circus.” I’d roll my eyes but they hurt.

  Bay’s thumb rubbed circles on the side of my neck. “What happened next?”

  “I got loose but Phin was tied up with nekroite.”

  Emerick punched a wall and paced across the room.

  “Is that how he-”

  “No.” They knew. Of course, they knew. Phin would never have left me alone. Deep breaths. Just facts. “My magic burned it away but he was unconscious.”

  “I don’t understand why would the Din kidnap you and Phin?”

  “Grakel paid them to take me. Ivory and Senevia paid them more to take me and Phin.”

  “Grakel’s working with Ivory?” Ozias’ voice sounded funny, more hoarse than mine.

  The glass. His neck. He was dead. “You were dead.” And I was still a sweet talker. “I thought you were dead.”

  Oz smiled gently. “I’m alive, sweetheart.”

  This time I face planted into Bay’s chest as tears spilled over.

  “Why would Grakel work with Ivory? The Timorii condemn vampires.” Bay’s voice was a deep rumble in his chest and I decided I loved it. I would never tell him that but still.

  He shook me a bit and I realized I hadn’t answered his question. “He wasn’t. Denny sold us to the highest bidder.”

  “Denny?” Pike’s eyebrows shot up.

  Now I did roll my eyes. “The Din.”

  Emerick coughed. “Denny the Din?”

  I glared and he chuckled. I wasn’t really mad. The levity was nice even if I was about to ruin it. These wolves were Phin’s family and I’d killed him.

  “Okay so Denny the Din and his friends kidnap you for Grakel and double crossed him for Ivory and Senevia, and then what?”

  When I hesitated, Bay growled. “We know about the reaping beetles.”

  “The fucking do what now?” Oz sprang off the floor.

  Emerick groaned and rubbed his face. “Pike and I found where they'd kept Veda and Phin. It was nothing but scorched earth and giant ass crater.”

  Pike picked up where he left off. “A few yards back into the forest Emerick found the shell of a reaping beetle. I’m sorry, Oz.”

  Oz gripped his hair in both hands. “What happened in the woods, Veda. Everything.”

  “Senevia forced a beetle inside me and when it didn't work they chained me in a box and filled it with them.”

  Ozias bellowed and punched the wall repeatedly. Jericho tried to stop him and got nailed for his efforts. Frank bear-hugged him from behind and dragged him towards the door.

  Jericho followed them more cautiously. “I’ll make sure he’s okay.”

  “Not sure that’s possible, man.” Pike muttered.

  Emerick’s eyes were heartbroken as he took up post next to the door.

  “Phin tried to save me but the beetles were everywhere. In me. In him.” It was a death sentence. Or it was supposed to be. They needed to understand. There was no choice. I didn't want to do it. I wanted to save Phin like I had with the nekroite. There just wasn't enough time.

  I met Bay’s eyes; the sorrow was painful to witness. “He saved me.”

  “I know.”

  Dhara.

  As if he could hear him Bay hugged me to him.

  Pike sat back against the broken door frame. “We need to find Sailas. Horde wolves, The Din, reaping beetles. They all make a sudden appearance when our king goes missing? No, this is all connected.”

  Emerick kicked a shard of wood across the floor. “So how do we find him? It’s not like we’ve been resting on our fucking laurels.”

  Bay lifted me onto my feet. “We don't. She does.”

  I laughed and it was a manic sound. “Find Sai? You think if I could find Sai I wouldn't have already?”

  “Veda-”

  “I tried! I screamed for him and he didn’t come! Okay? I begged and he didn't come. He left us!” I pushed against Bay’s chest hammering my fists against his shoulders. “Fuck him. Fuck him and fuck you. He left us, he left me and now he’s dead.”

  Pike and Bay exchanged glances. “Sailas?”

  “Phin!” I raged.

  “It’s alright, Veda.” Emerick approached slowly like I was a glass that would shatter if he moved to quickly.

  It pissed me off. I wouldn’t shatter. It was becoming clear I was probably the least killable person in this room.

  “I killed him.”

  Everyone froze.

  I shoved Bay with my fists. “I. Killed. Him.”

  Bay gripped the sides of my head. “No, Ivory killed him. The reaping beetles killed him. You didn't kill him.”

  “Well, I sure as hell didn't save him.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Veda

  We were deep into pack lands, beyond the public areas closer to town. Bay didn’t trust anyone at Sai’s compound and had called all his wolves home. He, Oz, and Pike were feeling out the witches and had shut themselves in Bay’s office while I cleaned up. I’d thought I’d have a moment alone but Emerick hovered in the suite.

  The sun had set by the time we’d made it here but a crowd had still gathered as we’d pulled up to the alphas home. Everyone trying to get a peek at the rogue half breed.

  The house was a Victorian structure that fit snugly into the wooded area. Made of stone it rose three stories but what caught my attention were the stained-glass windows. There had to be hundreds of the beautiful panels. If I hadn't already known it had been built years ago before Bay had become the alpha, I would now. Bay didn't strike me as the stained-glass type.

  Wolves weren’t patriarchal. If you had the juice you got the job. Maybe the alpha to build it was female.

  Water beat down on my head and I let my mind wander as the heat soaked into my skin. I’d scrubbed and scrubbed but every so often my belly twinged and fear had me digging my nails into my skin. Shivering I reached down and cranked the heat up. Steam billowed up thick as smoke.

  The curtain jerked back and I yelped.

  Emerick chucked a towel in my face and thumped the handle to the faucet off. “Enough. You’re burning your skin.” He clapped his hands. “Come on. Out. Chop chop. I brought you food.” The door banged shut behind him and I drop down on to the toilet lid.

  “Up!” He yelled through the door. “Don’t make me come back in there or you’ll be eating naked.”

  I rolled my eyes towards the ceiling and stood. He’d come back and get me. With or without clothes. One thing I knew for certain about Emerick. He had absolutely no shame.

  I toweled off and manage to only cringe slightly at the tee shirt he’d left on the sink. Deciding any shirt was better than no shirt, I slid on the fluffy robe that had been left on the door and did my best to avoid my reflection. Hopefully, some of my things had survived the attack but until then this would do.

  I tightened the belt and exhaled. This was as good as it was going to get. I cracked the door open and peeked out. Emerick looked up from the small table where he was setting up our food. I said our food because there was no way I could eat all that on my own. Even my love for carbs had limits.

  He smiled. “Come and eat before it gets cold.” He tapped the back of a chair and waited for me to sit down. As soon as my butt hit the seat he pushed me forward in front of a plate full of chicken and rice. The sauce was spicy and my mouth watered.

  “Thank you.”

  He slid in the seat next to me and passed me a bottle of water. “Eat. No questions. No explanations. Just eat.”

  I could do that. I lifted my fork and we ate quietly. He replaced my water twice over and rebuffed my request for coffee.

  “You need rest.” Was all he said and that had been that.

  I would fight him about it tomorrow. For sure.

  He cleared our dishes away and I moved in front of the fireplace next to the bed. There were chairs set there to relax in, maybe read a book but I sat on the floor with my legs dr
awn up to my chest. I watched the fire dance and thought of the fire that crawled through me.

  I heard him approach but was startled to feel Emerick settle behind me, his legs on either side of my body.

  “Easy, babe. Your hairs tangled. I'm just going to brush it through.”

  I swallowed. “Did your sister teach you this?”

  “When she was little, yeah. For some reason she decided it was my job and wouldn't let anyone else do it. Either I brushed it or she walked around with a bird nest on her head.”

  He stroked the brush through my hair in smooth, gentle strokes. I relaxed when I realized he was starting at the bottom instead of ripping my hair out at the scalp.

  Before long, my eyes slipped closed and I leaned into the heat of his body. The brush moved through my hair rhythmically and my mind emptied of anything but how wonderful it felt.

  At some point he stopped brushing and simply held me as the fire burned. Eventually it began to die out and he squeezed me. “Time to rest.”

  I nodded and let him help me up. I climbed under the covers and he rebuilt the fire. Dusting off his hands he looked over where I had buried myself under the blankets. I smiled, really smiled. “Thanks, Emmy.”

  He stood from where he’d crouched in front of the fireplace and came to the bed where he braced his arms on either side of me. “You get one, babe. Next time there will be consequences.”

  He dropped a kiss on my forehead, winked and left without looking back. I drifted off to sleep a little less haunted than I had been before.

  Fingers slid down my arm and panic shot through me and I bolted upright in bed, a scream tearing through the room. I was pulled from under the covers and cradled against a large body. I cocked my arm back and hands gripped my hair and yanked my head back. “Veda.”

  I stared into a familiar pair of dark eyes.

  Bay.

  It was just Bay.

  Scaring the shit out of me in my sleep.

  I let my fist fly and his head rocked back.

  “What the fuck?” He grabbed my wrist to keep me from hitting him again.

  “You scared the shit out of me,” I strained back against his hold as he glared at me.

  “You were crying in your sleep,” his hand dropped my arm to lift my chin. He peered into my eyes like he was searching for something.

  I felt my face with my other hand and felt hair stuck to my damp cheeks. Flushing I swiped them away.

  He took a deep breath and brushed my hair back. “Bad dreams?”

  “Its nothing,” Just Phin dying over and over when I closed my eyes. I shifted awkwardly. “Thank you for waking me. I’m fine now.”

  His hand slid down rubbing my back and he sighed. “No one expects you to be fine, sentinel. No one here is fine.”

  “Why do you do that?”

  “What?”

  “Call me ‘sentinel’ like I’m contagious.”

  The hand on my back stopped rubbing circles and gripped my hip. “You’re definitely catching.” He muttered.

  “Excuse me?”

  He groaned and tipped his head back to stare at the ceiling mumbling “Fucking woman.”

  Before I could pop him again he dropped backwards rolling me over him and onto my back. He propped himself up on his elbow and secured me next to him with one hand across my stomach and one leg over mine. I stared up at him both cozy and confused. Were we cuddling?

  My stomach fluttered as he slid his hand up to cup my jaw. “I call you sentinel to remind myself of your function. It was easier to distance myself from you than deal with how my beast notices you.”

  “Notices me?” He nodded. “Like a gazelle on the prairie or...” Oh good, I still couldn't say it.

  He belted out a laugh. “Or.”

  “So, he doesn't want to eat me?”

  His eyes darkened and his hand gripped my chin tighter. “Oh, he definitely wants to eat you.”

  I was pinned by the look in his eyes and I squirmed as heat filled my belly.

  “Veda.”

  My gaze had dropped to his mouth surrounded by his usual scruff and I wondered what it felt like. “Hmmm?”

  “Stop squirming.”

  My legs were sawing together where they were pinned under his and I felt him, long and thick against my hip. Oh boy.

  My eyes jumped to his where he hovered over me. “You said you wolf likes me?”

  “Yes.” His hand slid down my neck,

  “And that makes you angry.” That was sobering.

  His hand circled my throat. “I am my wolf,” he leaned closer, “do you understand?”

  He was saying he liked me. Judging by the bulge he like-liked me.

  “But you told Sai he should kill me.”

  “I regretted it as soon as I said it, darlin’. Besides, you know he’d never do it.”

  His hand slid down to rest between my breasts where my heartbeat heavily. “Why tell me now?”

  “You almost died Veda. No more. You're too young,” I went to protest and he pressed a thumb over my mouth, “Twenty-seven years is nothing to a wolf much less a Daenali. In the pack you’d still be considered a pup.”

  I swallowed thickly. The last man I kissed was Phin and for some reason I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Being here with Bay felt good but I couldn’t help but feel like kissing Bay would erase the last bit of Phin left in me. That every ounce of that fleeting connection would be gone.

  “Where’d you go?” He tilted my head until I was forced to look him in the eyes.

  Tears choked me. “Phin was-” How do I explain what I didn’t understand?

  “Important.” His words made me still. “He was clan, my brother and a damn good wolf.”

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered.

  “Whatever bonded you, he welcomed it. Never questioned it.”

  “It doesn’t bother you?”

  He pulled back a bit, confused. “Bother me?’

  I swallowed nervously. “That he and I-” Geez. “If he were still here-”

  “We’d need a bigger bed,” he finished. “Hell, I’m half surprised I didn't have to kick Oz out.”

  I choked.

  Bay sobered and his thumb stroked my lips. “I thought it would matter. Turns out I don't give a damn.”

  His lips replaced his thumb and my mouth opened under his. He controlled the kiss tilting my head to take it deeper, tasting me this way and that. His leg slid down between mine and my robe rode high splitting open. Rough and calloused, his hand slid down the outside of my thigh to grip my knee and used it to pull my legs open so he fell between them.

  He placed sucking kisses on my lips before pulling the bottom one between his teeth. The bite stung and his tongue soothed the fiery feeling. I chased his mouth with mine and he shifted his hips pressing the ridge of his cock against my core. I gasped as he pressed harder grinding where my robe had parted. My thighs shook from the pulsing sensation that built and my hips rocked desperate for more friction.

  His mouth bit and sucked at my neck while his hands parted the robe. Growling softly, he chuckled and collapsed, his massive form smothering me into the mattress and pressing the breath out of me in a gusty whoosh that set his mirth loose again.

  He rolled and my legs clenched around his hips while the world spun a moment. Coming to a rest perched on his chest I looked down at Bays amused face. “What?”

  He spread his hands around my ribs sitting me on my knees astride him. “Nice shirt.”

  Groaning, stared at the monstrosity Emerick had left me with. It was this or nothing. I’d thought it was the lesser of two evils. Now I knew, Emerick was the evil.

  The shirt boasted two ghosts- one over each breast- with the caption: Boo-bies!

  I reached for the sides of my robe, the better to hide with, but Bay pulled it down my arms before discarding it next to the bed. I shifted to move off him when he rolled us again, dragging the offensive shirt over my head.

  The palms of his hands lifted my breasts,
his fingers pinching and rolling my nipples before he slid down and sucked one roughly into his mouth.

  My knees rose around his hips and I rode the edge of his erection, keening as my stomach clenched. Oh gods, I was gonna-

  He lifted his head and worked himself faster up and down against my slick folds, “Oh, that’s a good girl. Show me what you've got.”

  I came, back arching, screaming silently as he let me grind against him, working myself until I was shuddering and panting.

  I was still panting when he sat back on his heels. He pulled his shirt over his head with one hand and unbuttoned his pants with the other. My mouth went dry as the planes of his chest and abdomen are revealed but it was his cock that got all my attention. I was right, it is long and thick. He didn’t bother taking his pants off before he pushed my legs wider and slid his cock from bottom to top, toying with all the wet we created.

  Leaning down he owned my mouth, thrusting and sucking, as he worked himself against me. I whined as he pressed against my opening but didn't enter me.

  Up down, up down, I worked my hips chasing his cock. Growling in frustration when he still didn't fuck me.

  Chuckling darkly, he bit my chin before circling my neck and thrusting forward to the hilt.

  I screamed and writhed under him. “Oh, gods please.”

  Bay pistoned his hips, pushing deep and giving no mercy for his size. No, he was giving it and I was taking it. I moaned and scratched and he groaned as my nails dug into his skin.

  He shifted his hips cursing and hit a spot inside me that had me crying out. Relentless, he hammered that spot over and over, his hand tightening around my throat holding me in place.

  Pressure built in my belly and I arched deeper into his thrusts, tension coiling tighter and tighter and he groaned.

  “Oh, that’s right. Give me All. That. Wet.” He thrust savagely and the pressure broke. I screamed clenching and pulsing as he rode me through it. His mouth dropped to my neck where he bit me, his hips pumping as he groaned through his own orgasm.

  Rocking gently, he slid in and out as my body throbbed, clutching at his retreating cock. He licked my neck and his hands rubbed up and down my body while I shuddered from the aftershocks. It was too much and I squirmed under him. He flattened himself on top of me and continued to stroke slowly inside.