by Ava Mason
Tallon and Blaze immediately ran towards the action and I scrambled to get out of the way, relieved that my assholes had actually done their job. Sawyer ran up to me, throwing my clothes by my feet. Then she kneeled down, jerking the collar off me. I felt a surge as my magic flowed through my body with an intense whoosh.
I took in a deep breath; I never wanted to feel that helpless again.
I thought about joining in on the fight but decided against it - that’s what the guys were there for, right?
Blaze was taking several hits off of Gunnar, while Tallon fought three guys at once. Denver’s power was incredible as he pounded through the men, taking on the only ones left.
“You always seem to find trouble, Fuzzy.” Sawyer blew, then popped, a piece of bubble gum, shaking her head at me. “Your Alpha called me, felt like you were in trouble. Good thing I was nearby or it’d have taken me forever to find you.”
The rest of the crowd had scattered and the Elite were almost done. Only Gunnar was left, still wrestling with Blaze. They were both trading punches and screaming unintelligibly at each other. Tallon and Denver were chasing off the rest of the guys.
Regretting not getting at least one punch in, I shifted back into my human form, then scrambled to put my clothes back on. A coat jacket appeared before my face and I looked up into Nox’s face. He was offering me his suit coat - since my clothes were only scraps of fabric.
I snatched it out of his hands without thanking him and wrapped it around me; it was absolutely luxurious. Maybe I’d use Hunter’s credit card to have something like this made for me.
Nox cleared his throat, holding out his hand towards Sawyer and giving her a serious stare.
“Fine,” she huffed, then gave him back the collar. Rage blazed inside me - he’d taken my magic away, tried to take me off with that guy. Who knew what they were going to do to me!
“She doesn’t need your handouts.” Denver’s voice growled behind me, then he ripped the jacket off me and threw it at Nox. I sighed, rubbing at my face. Great, now I was all exposed again in front of everyone. Thanks a lot, asshole.
Suddenly my eyes were blocked as Denver’s hands moved over my head, putting his shirt on me. It was sweaty and muddy and completely gross.
Yeah, so much better than that nice, expensive piece of silk that knows my own body better than I do.
“Come on.” Denver put his arm around my neck and steered me towards the street. Tallon was scowling at Denver, and Blaze was jogging back towards us. His nose was bleeding and he had sharp cuts across his eye, forearms, and knuckles. Gunnar and his buddies were nowhere to be found.
I ducked out from Denver’s arm and turned around. “Excuse me. I’m not sure where you think you’re taking me, but I’ve got things to do.”
“Yes, exactly. Things to do with us.”
Tallon grunted in agreement and Blaze just stared at the road, not looking at me or bothering to clean the blood off his face.
“I don’t think so, though I do appreciate you doing your job and all.” I gave them a polite smile. Then I limped around, trying to find my shoes. The crowd must have kicked them off somewhere because I couldn’t see them anywhere. “And that guy,” I pointed at Nox, “put a collar on me.” My voice came out a rough bark and it made everyone still. I looked up to see them all starting at me, like I was some kind of weirdo or something. I put my hands on my hips. “What the hell are y’all all staring at me for?”
Nox, aloof and a few steps away from everyone else, just shrugged. “You were losing it. I was trying to help you.” The collar had disappeared, probably back in his pocket.
My mouth dropped open and I looked at Sawyer. “Is he serious right now?”
She sighed and walked towards me, running her hand through her hair. “Probably. Who knows which side Nox is on these days.”
What the hell? I stuttered, not knowing what to say.
“Carrie!” Lizzy’s voice rang through the air and I swirled around, looking for her. She was running down the street with Easton, Hunter, and my mamá behind her. I ran towards them and threw myself into Lizzy’s arms, finally feeling safe again. Both her and my mamá clasped me tight as I struggled not to cry. My mamá rubbed my back, whispering soothing words in my ear. Easton wrapped his arms around us both and I felt little shots of warmth from Hunter - he was using his healing power on my cuts and aches. I sighed deeply, relaxing into their arms, feeling warm and loved.
After a while, Lizzy pulled away asked what happened. When I was done explaining everything, my mamá looked like she was ready to punch someone in the face. But everyone was gone - including Nox, who had slipped out during the reunion.
Lizzy pulled back to look into my face. “I’m just glad you’re okay. What do you need right now? We have to go back to Queen Aria’s - I ran out in the middle of a meeting - and you can come back with us, or if you want to stay here, we can ask the guys to stay with you.” She nodded towards the Elite. “Or maybe Sawyer?”
I shook my head. “I’m okay. I think I just want to go back to the guest house. I need a long shower.” I felt safe, protected. And now I knew better than to wander around on my own. Things with the wolves were too unpredictable. Now I understood why Easton and Hunter had gotten me bodyguards in the first place. I was tired and still feeling a little bit shaky. And, thanks to Denver, I was muddy. I was also certain that my hair was a mess. But, thanks to my Alpha for sending me help, I was okay.
“Thank you,” I told her. “For sending everyone.”
“Of course!” Lizzy’s voice was sharp and commanding. “That’s what Alphas do. We protect pack members.” She straightened, and in that moment, she was all Alpha. It pulsed from her very being, strong and secure. I felt the need to bare my neck, deferring to her power, but I resisted, knowing that wasn’t what she wanted. I was just glad that she was mine, and I was hers.
After I thanked Sawyer – the Elite had also disappeared, not bothering to check on me – everyone else walked me back to Hunter’s car. I thanked Lizzy again and my mamá gave me a fierce hug, then we said our goodbyes. When I pulled back up into the guesthouse parking, I saw Tallon’s LandCruiser, and all three guys were sitting in there, waiting for me.
Scowling, I jumped out and ran towards the guesthouse, scrambling to get inside before they could catch up to me. I was relieved to see that they’d stayed in his LandCruiser and didn’t follow after me. Then I felt a little silly that I’d assumed they were there for me. They were guards in the area; they could be there for something work related.
Sighing, and feeling a little disappointed, I checked my phone. There were a ton of messages and missed calls, too many to go through. I wanted to feel clean first. So I threw off my clothes, throwing them on the bathroom floor, and jumped in the shower.
I took my time washing my bushy hair and cleaning myself off. When I was done, I just let the water run over me, trying to relax.
I heard a creaking noise and peeked out from behind the curtain, nearly jumping out of my skin to see all three guys leaning on the counter across from the shower.
“Shit, you guys!” Clutching the shower curtain around my naked body, I grabbed my shampoo and threw it at Denver. “You scared me!”
Denver was in the middle of the three, his hands folded across his expansive, and bare, chest, smirking. He caught the bottle easily and placed it firmly on the counter.
“Sorry, Carrie, we just needed to talk to you,” Tallon said. His eyes were open and expressive - and there was something different about him that I couldn’t place.
I gave him an evil eye. “You can call me, you know.”
“We tried. Plus, it’s too important to wait.” He shook his head and his blond hair fell into his eyes. I wanted to wipe it out of his face. “Please, Carry, we just want to talk.”
I glanced at Blaze, who wasn’t staring at me, but then my eye caught something on the ground, next to my clothes. My shoes. I looked back up at Blaze, who was studying the tile on the ba
throom wall. His hands were clenched on the counter, even though the rest of his body was relaxed, and I wondered if he was the one who’d brought them in.
I stepped back and shut the shower curtain – I was in the middle of the shower! They were just going to have to wait. “Go away and call me later. I’m busy!”
20
Denver
Stupid Nox, thinking he could save Carrie. Didn’t he know that she was ours to save, to control, to use? He thought he could mark her up with his disgusting and ‘gentlemanly’ smell. Pissed me the hell off. As soon as he’d put his jacket on her, I’d wanted to light it on fire - show him what his ugly thousand dollar jacket was really worth.
Carrie wasn’t meant for a guy like that, with wealthy aristocrat snobs, pretend princesses, expensive campaign, and high-noon meals filled with small sandwiches and exotic food.
She was meant for a world of my making. To writhe under me while I kissed her beautiful exotic skin from head to cunt. To wrap her sexy, full lips around my cock, me fisting my hand in her hair and shoving so deep inside her throat that she knew who owned her.
I wouldn’t fill her head with fanciful dreams and snorefest romantic endings.
Instead, I would show her the truth; she was meant to be shown the world, all while being pressed under the heel of my boot.
To stay small and insignificant.
And most of all, mine.
I was still determined to make her fall for me, and then leave her wet and wanting.
And if this bitch thought that she was going to walk away from our problem, from the Elite, she had another thing coming.
We’d waited in Tallon’s LandCruiser only long enough to make sure that we weren’t going to be stopped by anyone else. We had to convince her to help us, and we didn’t need anyone else trying to tell her otherwise. I don’t know why she bothered running inside. We weren’t going to chase her down. We had access to most parts of the Queen’s castle, so the guardhouse was child’s play. There wasn’t any room in there that was going to keep us out.
I’d counted to four minutes in my head and then couldn’t wait any longer. I jumped out of the vehicle with my guys only steps behind me. And then when we’d heard the shower on, we tried waiting for her to come out. But she took so goddamn long that we couldn’t stop from inviting ourselves inside her bathroom.
The look on her face when she saw us - priceless.
There was no hiding from us. We were ruthless and unstoppable. If we wanted something, we took it.
I could barely make out the shape of her body and I grew hard, just thinking about what she looked like behind that obscure curtain. “Go away and call me later. I’m busy,” she called out and I frowned, yanking my belt buckle open.
Tallon had tried the nice way, now it was my turn to do it my way. “I’m pretty dirty myself. I think I need a shower, also,” I called out loud enough so she could hear me and yanked down my pants until I was only in my boxer briefs. Giving her only a second to react, I yanked back the shower curtain and stepped inside.
She stared back at me, her mouth open, her wide, innocent eyes staring up at me. My dick immediately hardened and I wanted to smack that goddamn innocent look of her face. It was maddening. She needed to be dirty and rotten, just like me. I wanted to wank on my dick and smear my cum all over that fucking beautiful face, just to spread the darkness of my soul onto her so that we were the same.
Instead, I grabbed the bottle of body wash and poured some into my hand, then began to rub it all over my chest, washing the mud off my body. She still didn’t speak, just looked up at me with fire in her eyes, a tenacious look on her face. When I was done I threw the bottle on the floor and gave her a firm look.
“You need to come with us.”
She shook her head. “Why?”
“Because, we need a wolf’s smeller.” I tapped her nose, wiping soft foam on it.
She laughed, and the sound, even though it was light and musical, raked across my ears. The fuck? Did she just laugh at me?
“Carrie, please.” Tallon got inside with us, leaving Blaze to stare at us with angry eyes, still leaning against the counter. Tallon picked up the bottle and put it gently on the side of the tub. She turned towards Tallon as he stood back up. I hated that he was naturally more athletic than me - even his muscles had muscles. He had stripped down only to his pants and bare feet, leaving the rest of him uncovered, and she dragged her eyes over his chest like she was staring at a damn treasure map. He caught her side, his large hand splayed across her hip, giving her a soft look. And goddamn it if even I believed it was sincere. “We need your help.”
“You, need my help? I thought wolves were a danger to your country. We put all the dragons in harm.” Her voice was sarcastic and I wanted to laugh.
He swallowed hard. “I was wrong.”
“What?” I cried out. Out of all the times for him to grow a damn conscious. I don’t think I’d ever heard him say that to a woman. He screwed them fast and tight, just like Blaze and me, and then they were out the revolving door.
He glanced at me, giving me an apologetic look, then back to her. “I’m sorry, okay. I saw how much your Alpha cared about you. She was frantic when she called us, and also by how everyone was so worried about her the other day. I made assumptions about her that were wrong. I should’ve gotten to know her first.”
“I don’t know if I believe you.” She frowned but still reached up to wrap her finger around a lock of his golden hair, pulling it out of his face. He grinned down at her with his perfect smile and I wanted to smash his perfectly spaced teeth. Her face softened; she was falling under his spell, the trap he oh-so-expertly laid out for women. Lying to them, making them believe that he was a ‘good guy’, when really it was just his way to get them to give in to him so easily.
Except this time, I believed that he actually meant his words.
And then, he grabbed the edge of her chin with his fingers and tilted her head upwards towards him. “I’m serious, Carrie.” His eyes went directly to her lips and her tongue snaked out, unconsciously licking them with the tip.
“He’s right,” I growled, angry that he was getting all the attention but knowing I could use it to my advantage. We worked together like this all the time to get women to fuck us. I pushed her hair away from her shoulder, leaving it naked as I traced my finger over it. She shivered, the tips of her nipples perking happily, which only made my dick grow harder. Damnit - her naked body was too much of a distraction. “He’s not lying to you. I would tell you if he was.”
Frowning, she swiveled her head towards me. “And why would I believe you, of all people? I don’t trust you, either.”
“Wheat’s that supposed to mean?” Tallon’s eyes grew cold as they stared into mine. I let him, knowing he could see my own darkness swirling in them. “What did you do to her?”
“Hah! You think she’s so sweet and innocent.” I grabbed her chin to force her to face back to me. “But she’s just as much a player in this game, aren’t you, Kid?” I turned my lips up, staring down with a haughty look even though I wanted to bite on those silky lips, suck them into my mouth until they were swollen and needy. “Except you’re still swimming with the floaties on in the deep end, aren’t you?”
“Shut up. And quit calling me Kid. I’m a grown ass adult,” she bit back.
I’d known from the beginning how much knew she hated being called ‘Kid’, and that was exactly why I kept using it.
Plus, I got the exact reaction I wanted - she was angry. At me. And thinking about me, instead of Tallon.
“Are you sure about that, baby?” I ran my hand down her side, loving the way her body reacted, pressing her curved body to meld into my hand. What I was going to do to her when I got her in my bed. Alone.
“I’m sure.” She pressed her chest out in anger and her supple tits brushed against my firm chest - soft and hard, just like her and me.
Tallon growled. “If you hurt her—”
“What?!” I growled back, snapping my face towards him. “What are you going to do, Tallon? All I need is one call to my father and your poor ass would be on the street in a second. You wouldn’t even have this job if it wasn’t for me.” I was tired of him playing the good guy, acting like he had something to offer these women, when he wouldn’t be anything without me. I got him his job. My family gave his family a place to live when he would’ve been out in the streets. He had everything he had because of me, and it was high time everyone knew it.
Tallon sucked in a breath, shock on his face, and Carrie’s face grew dark and even angrier. She opened her mouth to yell at me but suddenly Blaze yelled out. “Stop it!”
It surprised us three and we all turned towards him. Cloaked with fire and rage, the promise of violence in his step, he marched towards us. Still in his full uniform, he vaulted into the tub with us, crowding us all in there together and splashing water everywhere. He grabbed her chin and forced her to look up at him. Both Tallon and I stiffened, ready to intervene to protect her. I don’t know why he bothered. She wouldn’t listen to Blaze. Tallon and I were asses, but not anything like Blaze. He had a fierce darkness that was scary and threatening. Even I was afraid of him sometimes.
Blaze didn’t show his emotions often but when he did, his anger was a force of might. And it usually made other women afraid.
But not Carrie.
At the sight of his indignation and rage, staring down at her, she softened. She had this weird look on her face, like she didn’t fear him but like maybe, she understood him.
He froze in shock, momentarily staring deep into her eyes. Then he swallowed hard and bit out, leaning close to growl at her. “Carrie, you will help us, do you understand me?”
She tilted her head to the side, as if she was considering it. What the hell? How on this fucking earth was she listening to Blaze?
Finally, she nodded, but he wasn’t done.