by Lia Davis
The male stumbled and fell on his ass. But Ryan didn’t let up. No one hurt his sister or anyone in his clan.
A magical charge zapped through the air a moment before Kaylee’s dad materialized beside Ryan. Zorrol curled his lip and thrust a hand out, toward the other demon. “Return to Hell.”
As soon as the last word left Zorrol’s lips the demon vanished. Ryan stared at Zorrol. His new father-in-law shook his head. “No time to explain.”
Right. “Kaylee is with Adair.” Ryan sent the telepathic thought to him. Wherever the hell that was.
Zorrol nodded and dematerialized. Apparently, he knew where his daughter was.
Ryan turned to Tiffany, his heart stopping for a long moment. She was so still. No, no, no. Tiff, get up. He nudged her face with his nose. She blinked open her eyes and Ryan sagged in relief. Shifting back to human, he conjured a pair of jeans on—thanks to the power he gained from being marked and bonded to Adair. He gathered his baby sister in his arms. Well as much as he could. She was twice his size in her bear form.
The pounding of footsteps made Ryan snap his head up. He growled, then relaxed. Anthony and Holt—Tiff’s mate—stopped next to them. Holt knelt down and pulled Tiffany from Ryan. “Are you okay?”
Ryan didn’t reply because he knew the male was talking to Tiffany. She shifted back to human and Ryan gave his attention to Anthony, giving the couple privacy even though they all grew up together and nakedness was a common occurrence among shifters. “What’s up?”
“There’s too many of them.” Anthony threaded a hand through his hair.
“Zorrol just got here. He’s like Lucifer’s son.”
A growl ripped from Anthony, his alpha power from being the Heir and Marshal of Blackrock slammed into Ryan. He stepped back but glared at his brother. Anthony spoke first. “You brought the demon general here? Are you fucking out of your mind?”
Ryan straightened and shoved his brother. “Zorrol is on our side. He’s Kaylee’s father.”
Behind him Tiffany gasped. Ryan closed his eyes briefly. “Look, now is not the time to explain any of this.”
A boom sounded and the ground shook. Then pain ignited in Ryan’s chest. “Kaylee.”
He ran to the center of the den, his brothers and sister following close behind him. When they reached the circle they held rituals and ceremonies in, they skidded to a stop. In the center of the circle was Kaylee, her parents, and Ryan’s father. They stood with their backs to each other. Magic, dark and white, swirled around them. And they were chanting.
Adair spotted him from the other side and made his way to him. Anthony growled as Adair stepped up next to Ryan. Placing a hand on his brother’s chest, Ryan met his stare. “Like it or not, Adair is my mate.” Turning to Adair, Ryan pointed to the circle. “What’s going on?”
“They are sending the demons back to where they belong and securing the den.” Adair reached for him and Ryan took his hand and leaned into him.
“What was that boom?”
“Our demonic angel. You should have seen her. She lured the demons to the circle and showed them what happens when you mess with what belongs to her.” Adair laughed. “I’ve never seen anything like it. She sent out a magical blast that wiped out the bastards. Those who lived through it ran back to Hell with their tails between their legs.”
An hour later, Ryan stood with his arm folded, listening to his siblings argue over having a demon live in the den. At first Ryan figured they’d just agree to disagree and give Adair a second chance. That wasn’t going to happen.
Tapping Adair on the shoulder and taking Kaylee by the hand, he led them out of the den. He’d had enough. If his family wasn’t going to accept his mates, then he’d leave.
His nose tingled at the decision, but he couldn’t live one place while his mates were someplace else.
Kaylee wrapped an arm around his waist. “Everything will work out.”
She was right. His family was close and no matter what happened, they love him. And they’d have to love his mates too. Some day.
Kaylee let go of him and ran ahead. “I’ll race you home and I’ll be naked. Don’t make me wait.”
She dematerialized.
Ryan and Adair cursed at the same and teleported home. To their mate.
They took form in the bedroom. Their demonic angel was naked and laid across the massive bed. Ryan stripped down, but Adair beat him to it by using his magic to remove his clothes.
Instead of joining them right away, Ryan admired their naked forms wrapped around one another. So, beautiful. And all his.
“Have I told you two how much I love you?”
Kaylee laughed and threw a pillow at him. “You don’t have to. We feel it in the mating bond. Now get over here. I need both of you inside me now.”
“Yes ma’am.” Ryan crawled on bed and trailed kisses up her leg to the inside of her thigh. Then he nipped at the sensitive skin.
She groaned and fisted her hand in his hair. “No teasing.”
Ignoring her, he licked her clit then covered her with his mouth. She bucked under him and start moaning. Glancing up, he watched Adair took one of her nipples between his teeth. Fuck. He was going to come before he was ready.
Sitting up on his knees, he gripped her hips and thrust inside her. She cried in pleasure. Desire heated his insides. Love and passion flooded the bonding link between them.
Adair moved up the bed and Kaylee took him into her mouth. His mates were trying to kill him. So fucking hot.
In that moment, they were one. Pleasure bounced between with each thrust in and out. Kaylee milked, then tightened around his cock right before she screamed out as the she came. Ryan and Adair followed with an orgasm of their own.
Panting and breathless, Ryan snuggled up between his mates. “I love you. Both of you.”
“We love you too.”
Just then his phone rang. Frowning, he glanced at his mates. Adair handed him the cell. “Hello.”
“You left.” Tiffany’s tone sounded sad.
“You all were arguing. I’m not listening to it. How would you feel if it was Holt who was the outcast? You couldn’t live without him.” Ryan closed his eyes. The rock on his chest was back.
“We’re not making you choose.” She fell silent. After a few moments she added, “Kaylee’s part demon and she’s good.”
“Adair is only half demon.”
“I know. Dad told me. He also said Kaylee’s father showed him the truth. That Adair was protecting me the only way he knew how.” She sighed. “Come to dinner tomorrow night. Bring your mates. I can’t lose my brother.”
Tears blurred Ryan’s eyes. Too many emotions for one day. He chuckled and teased his sister. “You have two other brothers.”
“You’re not funny right now.” She still laughed. “If you trust him enough to mate him, then I’ll try too.”
That was all he needed to hear. “I love you, Tiff. See you tomorrow.”
“Love you too, Ry.” She hung up.
Kaylee kissed his cheek. “I told you everything would work out.”
Yeah, she did. The light in their darkness. He kissed her hard, then tickled her. “Don’t be a smarty pants.”
“I have to be the smart one.” She jumped up and ran to the bathroom.
Ryan and Adair shared a wicked look before chasing their mate.
Who knew that one demon mark would lead him to a triad and a lifetime of pleasure and love.
The End
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Note from Lia
Hello Readers!
Ryan’s story is a long time coming. I’m happy to finally get his story out and share it with you all.
Many of you may ask is this it for Blackrock? My answer is no, not really. I have one more planned that will crossover with the Shifter of Ashwood Falls series and merge with the new series arc. I’m
just not sure on where it all fits together.
With that said, look for new Ashwood Falls books to come in 2019. We will start a read a long with the series in my fan club group. So come join in the fun. Join the fan club here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LiaDavisFanClub/
Happy Reading!
Lia
Marked for Them
The first in the new series, Witches of Rose Lake
Dimitri
Ten years ago
Rose Lake Coven
“Look what I found.”
I groaned as Wade Coleman, one of my four best friends, held up the Ouija board my mom had left out. Lifting my head from my homework, I raised a brow at Wade, who laid the game on the table and opened the box. His black hair hung in his eyes.
Correction. A Ouija board wasn’t a game. At least, not to me.
Ugh. I’d forgotten Mom had left that thing out. She was a hedge witch and able to communicate with the spirits. Humans called her a medium. It wasn’t far from the truth. Humans just didn’t know about her natural witchy abilities. The latter is how the magical Council preferred it. The less humans knew about how powerful witches were, the better for everyone.
“That’s not a toy.” Zane Carter, sole heir to the wolf Alpha of the local Pack, scowled from the La-Z-Boy with a game controller in his hand. I agreed with him.
Zane and I were the only two paras—short for paranormal beings—in our small group of friends. We were also the only two out of the five that couldn’t get drunk. Well, not as quickly as the humans anyway. Our metabolism was too fast and burned off most of the alcohol before it could linger in the system.
Wyatt, Wade’s twin brother, stumbled to a stand, damn near spilling his beer as he walked sideways to the table where his twin was setting up the board. The fifth member of our friend circle, Trevor Reed, joined them.
I glanced at Zane, and he shrugged. With a heavy sigh, I rattled off the rules. “No asking anything to come visit. Period. Only ask questions that can be answered through the board. Do not ask anything to visit.” I repeated the latter because they weren’t listening, or so I thought.
Wyatt waved a hand. “We know. Come join us.”
“Not a chance. I may only be a green witch, but I still have magic in my blood. So I’m not touching that thing.” I closed my AP English book and moved to sit next to Zane. He handed me the secondary controller. Let the humans have their fun. They were smart guys and knew the rules of magic because I reminded them almost daily.
“What are the chances of something coming through there?” Zane asked, a hint of worry in his tone.
“As long as they don’t invite anything over, they should be fine.”
I hoped. The Ouija board frightened me. The main reason being that I’d seen my mother bring a demon through the thing once. I was five, and she’d been calling a client’s dead spouse over. Little did she know that the husband was possessed at the time of death and, apparently, the demon still had hold of the soul in the afterlife.
I shuddered. Zane raised a brow at me. I waved him off and started the video game.
The trio at the table laughed and talked loudly at each other. I glanced over periodically and was tempted to get up and take the board away.
Zane nudged me with his elbow. “Relax, you’re going to get your anxiety up again.”
I nodded. Zane was right. I might be worrying over nothing. The last thing I needed was a panic attack. But I wished they would put the damn board up.
After a few moments, I put the controller down and walked to the table, set on ending the craziness of talking to spirits. I hated it when Mom did it, so I made sure I wasn’t home when she entertained clients.
When I reached the table, the lights flickered and then shut off. The French doors to the backyard blew open, slamming into the walls and shattering the glass. In the center of the room, a dark, smoky orb hovered.
Shit!
I ran to my mom’s ritual cabinet tucked in the corner of the den where she kept her salt. I’d never been good at creating a circle, but I would try. Before I made it, a blast of energy slammed into me, knocking me across the room. I hit the wall and slid down to the floor. Pain shot up my spine, and my lungs burned as I gasped for air.
“Demon!” I heard Trevor shout.
Feet shuffled around me. Zane bent down beside me. “You okay?”
I nodded and lifted my gaze to search for the others. When my sight found the demon, his black eyes narrowed on me. Death and determination oozed from him. It became hard for me to breathe. No. Not now. I couldn’t panic. I tried to take deep breaths like Mom told me to do, but I ended up gasping for air instead.
The demon raised his hands and slowly closed them into fists. Then he uncurled his fingers, and one by one, he pointed at each of us. “I mark you and bind you to my bloodling.”
Bloodling. Demon for offspring. Why would he bind us to him or her?
Before I could demand answers from the demon, the inside of my wrist burned as if someone pressed a hot iron to my skin. Then he vanished.
My parents ran into the room. They must have just arrived home from their dinner date. I wasn’t surprised. Mom had probably sensed the demon, or at least that something was about to happen. “What the fuck?” my dad barked out.
Mom let out a sob and knelt in front me. Her brows were drawn and her lips pursed. She grabbed the wrist I’d been clutching. “Damn it. You’ve been marked.”
Marked? By the demon? “What does that mean?”
“It usually means he can come and collect on his debt at any time.” She stood and whirled around just as the demon reappeared. “Remove their marks.”
The demon laughed. “They will do my bidding when the time comes.”
“Why? Did they summon you? Did they ask for anything? If not, then it is against demonic law to mark them.” Mom stood her ground, glaring at the demon. I feared he’d kill her for challenging him, but I was unable to move from my position on the floor, even if I wanted to help.
“I’m not bound by demonic law. They belong to me now.”
Mom cut a glare to me, then stared back at the demon. “You were not invited here and are not welcome.” She thrust her hands toward him. A stream of power flowed from her fingers, hitting the demon in the chest. He laughed and dematerialized again. Unfazed by her power.
A moment later, everything fell quiet. The buzz of dark magic was gone.
“Mom, what’s going to happen? What did he mean?”
She frowned and glanced around the room. “I’ll have to inform the Council. You will have your powers stripped.” When I opened my mouth to protest, she held up a hand, silencing me. “You’ll be lucky if I can stop them there.”
My dad chimed in with, “Zane will need to let his father know that he’s marked.”
I glanced at my wolf friend. Dread crippled me. The color drained out of Zane’s face. We knew without speaking that Zane would be forced to leave the Pack for the safety of his people.
Wade inched toward the door. “We’re heading home.”
On the heels of that statement, Trevor, Wyatt, and Wade left.
Wyatt
It’d been two weeks since the demon showed up in Dimitri’s den, and there’d been no sign of the asshat since. I took it as a sign that the jackass went back to wherever he came from. D said it wasn’t that simple. That once a demon crossed over and placed his mark, he could come and go as he pleased.
Wade, my twin, called bullshit. I wasn’t so sure.
But tonight, we were graduating from high school.
I pulled up to Trevor’s house just as he opened the front door. He waved a hand and disappeared back inside. A moment later, he exited in a white, button-down shirt and black slacks. His dress shoes were new, I noted. Trev had his graduation gown draped over one arm, and his cap on his head.
A smile lifted my lips as he approached and stopped at the passenger door of the SUV, waiting for Wade to move to the back seat.
“Seriously?” Wade huffed and rolled his eyes before opening the door and stepping out. He leaned into Trevor. “You smell pretty.”
It was my turn to roll my eyes. Trevor was my boyfriend, and Wade was straight and loved teasing Trevor. It was all in fun, though. We knew Wade wouldn’t do anything to hurt us. Our group—Dimitri and Zane included—were tight. We’d grown up together and were family.
A smile curved Trev’s lips. “You’re just jealous that your twin gets to play with all of this.”
Wade laughed. “No. I love you, but not that much.”
My brother climbed into the back as Trevor sat in the passenger seat next to me, clipping his seatbelt. When he turned his head my way, I cupped his nape and drew him closer so I could press a quick kiss to his lips. “Happy grad night.”
“Hmm. I say we skip the ceremony and go right to the after party.”
Wade cleared his throat. “Can we get going?’
Laughing, I pulled out of the driveway and headed to the school for the last time. Graduation. We’d made it. Alive.
About a block from the building, the mark on the left side of my throat tingled, then burned. I slapped a hand over it and glanced at Trev and then Wade. They both had a look that mirrored the fear I felt.
A moment later, the demon materialized in the back seat next to Wade and grabbed him by the throat. “Keep driving, human, or your brother dies.”
I did as he asked and turned at the next road. There was no way I’d take the demon to the school. “What do you want?”
A deep, husky, and evil laugh filled the SUV. “You will do my bidding. I’m searching for a witch. A female. Blond hair and violet eyes. You will kill her.”
“Like fuck we will,” Wade said and started fighting to get out of the demon’s grasp.
I glanced between the road and the rearview mirror, heart hammering. “Wade, stop.”
Since we were marked, I could sense the others as if we were connected on a psychic level. With my twin, that connection went even deeper. I could physically feel his pain. The demon squeezed Wade’s neck tighter. Both of us started coughing.