Blood Moon Magic

by Isobelle Carmichael

  We know where he belongs. But until he’s ready to take his place, he shall be zeta.

  He’s not though. We know it.

  He will not accept anything but, and we need him, do not push him away. He is zeta.

  I lean forward, sink my teeth into his neck, as he bares his neck and submits to me. My teeth tear into his skin, and his blood fills my mouth. It would be so gross if I were fully human, but my wolf and I are working together, and she loves the taste of his blood. I lap my tongue over his wounds until the bleeding slows, and I slowly get off him. I want to rage at him for being an idiot. While being a zeta, or an omega, in our pack is hardly an insult, when it’s being done because the person doesn’t think they’re worthy enough, it hurts me. All packs members are essential, but he is choosing to ignore his true worth.

  “Welcome, Marcus Doyle, zeta member of the Dama de Noche,” I say, trying hard to keep the anger out of my voice. I succeed, but barely. He nods his head and steps to the side. I catch a flash of shame in his eyes as he does, and something about it cuts me deep. I want to go to him, hug him, and take that pain away, but I can’t. I have to continue, and Marcus is choosing not to fight.

  Next is Kaleb. He fights with a passion that is indeed a sight to behold. Kaleb moves fluidly like a dancer, light on his feet and wicked fast. My vision shifts to my wolf’s, and it’s a welcome advantage. But he goes down eventually.

  I must finish my fights with the rest of the men before marking Kaleb. I have to admit, that even though my wolf said Justin was my Gamma, fighting him is still eye-opening. Justin comes at me with smooth grace and quiet confidence. He knocks me on my ass more times than I can count, but eventually, I figure out his style. Then, it’s much easier for me to get the upper hand, but he makes me work for the victory. Sweat drips down my back and into my sports bra.

  Hello, boob sweat.

  Kaden comes at me with brutal intensity. He has me pinned under him before I can blink. He grins at me and then nuzzles me on my neck. His cocky smile is making me wet, but I won’t let him distract me.

  “No using sexual tricks to distract me,” I chide.

  I can’t help but wiggle under him a little, pressing his hard body against my own, before I pull myself from his hold. Reversing our positions, I end up on top of him and latch my hand around his neck squeezing hard. His eyes heat at my possessive hold, and he growls. He hardens beneath me, and my wolf purrs.

  Bite him, she urges me.

  I give in to her, leaning down to sink my teeth into him. He pushes me away from him and springs up fast.

  “Not so fast,” he chides, and throws a punch that connects with my side. The pain takes my breath away. A second punch comes towards my head, but I dodge it, following it up with an uppercut. We battle back and forth, his blows fierce and heavy. He doesn’t pull his punches, and my blood heats. My heavy panting not just from exertion, but from how much he’s turning me on. I lunge at him, using my body weight to tackle him to the ground. When he tries to get back up, I let out a primal growl and clamp my teeth down. I don’t break the skin, but keep my teeth hovering just above his skin—a promise of what I will do if he keeps resisting. He exposes his neck in submission. I growl once more; this time in satisfaction of his supplication to me. I quickly roll off of him and jump up, yearning for another fight.

  Despite my fatigue, I’m very much looking forward to this next fight. And I’m not the only one. My wolf is excited too. She has been itching to put him in his place for weeks, but my human side is less enthused. I can see by the look in his eyes, Shaun is scared. The confidence in them has been waning as our alphas have continued to duel daily. Now it is coming to a head. We dance around one another for a bit before finally getting into it. Brutal doesn’t begin to describe the fight that ensues. Shaun pulls out all the stops and shows me that where he lacks in skill, he makes up for in sheer power. Even as he tries to use his weight and height against me, he falls short. After a kick that sends him flying towards the wall, I lean over him. Using our connection, I mentally ask him to submit. I would have done it physically, but that wouldn’t be enough for Shaun, he needs to say it. I would never tell anyone, but he has truly challenged me, and maybe he knows it too. For the sake of our relationship, and the future of our pack, he needs to say the words of submission, not just bare his neck for my mark.

  I know this is hard for you, it would be devastating for me, but this is the way it’s meant to be Shaun, and your dragon should accept that. Please, let’s end this civilly. I need you by my side, helping me to wrangle the rest of these guys, and you know them best.

  He looks at me, and the defeat reflected back at me nearly brings me to my knees.

  “I submit Abigail, and I’m glad you understand how hard this is for me. I submit because I see the alpha in you, and I am in awe of her greatness. But this isn’t going to magically end with rainbows and lollipops.” His eyes flicker, going back and forth between human and dragon. There are times when I wish it was possible to co-alpha, but the hierarchy doesn’t allow for it. It’s why we keep snipping at one another. Our animals have to know who’s the most dominant.

  “I can’t promise to stop trying to challenge you; it’s literally in my nature.”

  “I know,” I whisper, and crawl over him, melding my body and lips to his and giving him a kiss that is laced with promises. He groans and grabs me around my head, taking control of the kiss and fucking my mouth with his tongue. Shaun drives me crazy. I have never met such a dominant man, and it keeps me on my toes. I’ve taken my alpha for granted; only my mother can make my wolf cower, as is her right. Shaun has brought my wolf roaring to the surface and is forcing me to take control of my alpha status faster than I ever thought possible. If I didn’t want to fight him all the time, I would thank him for that, but he doesn’t need that bit of reassurance.

  I nuzzle his neck, right at the spot I will soon mark him, and whisper, “I promise when we’re finally allowed to have sex, that you can be on top, and I’ll even let you boss me around a little, maybe.” I say with a wink. My body vibrates in anticipation, and I drag myself away from his luscious body with great reluctance. The challenge isn’t over yet.

  He smiles against my mouth because we both know when it comes to sexy times, I prefer to let the men take the reins most of the time. Being an alpha in the bedroom can be fun, but it can be even more fun to give someone else the control I’m forced to hold onto so tightly every day.

  Once I finish my fight with Shaun, we have a general pack order, and it is precisely what my wolf predicted it would be. But I still need to let the men fight one another now. Sometimes the fights just let off extra tension, but sometimes they actually change the order of ranking. The one I’m most interested in is Shaun and Justin. They seem almost evenly matched, so I can only imagine it will be a good fight.

  “Now that you have all finished fighting with me, would anyone like to fight someone else to improve their ranking?”

  Kaden and Kaleb go head-to-head, and I watch in amusement. I’m pretty sure it’s just for fun and to blow off steam, so when it ends with Kaden on top, literally; I’m not surprised. Since Kaden won, Justin battles Kaden next. The back and forth between them looks more like sparring practice than a dominance fight, and I get the feeling these two train together a lot. It would explain why my nerd has such a deep tan because the twins basically live outside when they can.

  Finally, it’s time for Justin and Shaun to face off. They stare at each other, and I see decades of infighting rise to the surface. It is like the buried slights and animosities have finally found an exit, and they will not be satisfied until blood is drawn. Seeing the level of violence that is about to ensue, I hold my hands in the air and fill my voice with pure alpha. “We are not destroying this gym, let’s go outside.”

  Goddess help us, I am going to let two dragons fight in the Arizona forest without a cloaking spell. My mother is going to kill me when she finds out.

  I follow the bo
ys at breakneck speed, ignoring the pack members that follow us; I can’t deny them the right to see this fight. We’ve left the gym, and our bargain that barred them from watching was only for that location. Plus, if I were them, I’d wanna see a dragon fight, too.

  The boys have already stripped by the time I’m outside, and I pull my wolf back at the last minute taking a mental snapshot of every packmate ogling my men.

  No! They are mine and mine only, my wolf mutters, and I agree with the sentiment.

  Shaun shifts first, and in an instant, a magnificent blue dragon appears, scales iridescent and swirling. He is splendid, and I want to touch him, but I dig my nails in my palms to stop myself. Now is not the time. Justin takes off his glasses and hands them to Marcus and then shifts as well. In his place is a dragon of matte black with cobalt blue stripes running up his hind legs. He’s bulkier than Shaun, and a little larger. Again, my wolf wants to run my hands along his scaly skin, and I promise myself that after this is done, I will give in to my desires.

  They shoot up into the air, and it’s like a clap of thunder hits us as the air is displaced. Their wings unfurl to their full height, and the beauty of the moment brings tears to my eyes. These beautiful dragons are about to fight, but for the brief moment when they’re just hanging in the air, full of majestic beauty, my breath catches. A quick glance around shows me that I’m not the only one affected. I can see the awe in my pack members’ eyes. A roar reverberates through the sky, and the fighting begins.

  Shaun launches at Justin—his maw wide and teeth flashing, as he tries to lock them around Justin’s neck. A scream builds in the back of my throat, but suddenly Marcus is behind me, his calming Earth power seeping into my bones, and he envelops me in his strength.

  “No, Abby, don’t. You can’t scream. It will distract them. Let them fight; they are fast healers, and they need this.”

  “I don’t understand, I’ve never noticed the tension was this bad.”

  “They’ve been better since you came into our lives, but Justin has a much more subtle way of undermining Shaun. I don’t even think he means to do it at times. He always wants to do what he thinks is best, which means he always wants to be right. Shaun struggles with that, and Justin hates it when he’s wrong.”

  “So, have they been hiding this from me?”

  “Not hiding, no, but Shaun has been so busy snipping at you, I’m not surprised that you missed the tension between these two. You’re amazing, but you’re not perfect, so don’t blame yourself. Just let them fight.”

  He’s right, and this isn’t my first dominance challenge. Hell, as a future alpha, I’m still challenged by packmates. Some want to test their own skills, and others to examine my own. No one will die, today, I remind myself. Blood may be drawn, but no one will die.

  I turn my attention back to the aerial dragon fight before me. There is a morbid beauty to watching these imperial creatures swirl and dive around one another. I watch them lunge and parry in their blood ballet until finally, it’s over. At the last moment Shaun ducks in between Justin’s defenses and gets him around the neck. He bites hard enough to break his skin, and a pained-filled roar fills the air and Justin submits.

  A few moments later they hit the ground and shift back, quickly dressing. They look at me expectantly, but I turn to the others and ask if anyone else wants to fight instead. Kaden and Kaleb got out their aggression in their human form, so I turn to Marcus. He refuses to look me in the eye, and I want to shake him for being stupid. But I am extremely glad I won’t have to watch my dragons fight one another anymore.

  Let him be. He is happy, and it will ground the pack with him there.

  He has Earth magic, I whisper for confirmation.

  Yes. He need not be on top to be useful; his Earth magic allows him to feel less competition, unlike the fire twins.

  “Okay guys, I think we’re done now. Come to me, Kaleb,” I command, and he kneels before me, baring his neck. I let my wolf seep through just enough that biting them won’t feel gross, and then I lean down sinking my teeth into Kaleb’s neck. “Welcome, Kaleb Miller, epsilon member of the Dama de Noche pack. He nods, and I continue down the line. Kaden is delta, my fourth; Justin is gamma, my third; and Shaun has won the right to be my beta, my second in command. As my beta, he is my right hand and leader in my stead. I have a feeling he’s going to enjoy bossing these guys around even more than usual now.

  With that out of the way, I smile. “You guys stink. Why don’t you all shower while I talk to Marcus,” I phrase it more as an order rather than a suggestion. I hate to do it, but I need this moment with my stubborn dragon.

  Longingly he looks towards the direction the rest of the guys are heading. He so desperately wants to follow, and avoid yet another talk. It’s really rather cute, but he’s fighting a losing battle. The first words that always pop out of his mouth to me are compliments. It’s like his heart starts speaking before his brain has a chance to catch up. Just like Shaun pushes me, I’m going to keep pushing this man, and I imagine the results will be quite successful in the end.

  When the guys are far enough away, and I know they won’t hear our conversation, I look at Marcus thoughtfully. “I won’t push you too hard, because I promised my wolf I wouldn’t, but I need to know. Is there a reason you were too afraid to hit me?”

  “I have my reasons, and yes, I would not hit you because of them. Please just give me a little longer. Don’t force me to bare my soul until I’m ready. I’m trying, Abigail, and it’s the best I can do.”

  I sigh, move closer to him, and give him a kiss. “You are worthy, and you are loved. Your value is not in question, but it’s up to you to believe that.”

  “I understand, Abby, I do, but it’s hard to undo twenty-nine years of self-deprecation and verbal abuse in a few months. I know I’m healing, and you are making such a difference, but my father did things to me and my mother that I can’t forgive or forget too quickly, no matter how hard I try.”

  My breath shudders. It’s the most he’s ever said about what’s been eating at him, and I hold my breath waiting for more. He sighs and pulls me to him. “You’re amazing; you know that? And if you ever need to be grounded when the anxiety becomes too much, please come to me. The very least that I can do is use my gift to calm you.”

  I know the guys have talked about my little issue and ways they could help me, but it feels so good that even Marcus is finally thawing enough to agree to help. It makes that piece of me that is terrified of love just a little less scared.

  I leave Marcus to his thoughts and hit the showers. After I towel off, I slip into another pair of leggings and a simple T-shirt, then seek out Kaleb. I find him rubbing his recently-washed hair with a towel, after finishing his own shower. I stop for a moment and admire the sight of his bare chest and the beautiful tattoos symbolizing fire that wind up both arms in a pair of half sleeves. The fire is so lifelike with its combination of blue, orange, reds and yellows that I expect it to put off real heat.

  All of the guys have a tattoo that represents their elemental gifts. The magic imbued in them allows the men to focus their energies into them like a homing beacon. I don’t have one yet, and I try to think of what it would be. I can’t imagine getting a spirit tattoo as the symbol that would represent my magic. We were able to confirm my Aether magic, so I’ve been thinking more lately about my own tattoo, but honestly, everything that I come up with seems really lame. Luckily, Justin says I can probably use my birthmark since it’s the literal epitome of ancient magic. I figure I’ll give that a shot first because I can’t imagine a ghost tattoo would look badass.

  I don’t give Kaleb warning, but instead, run and jump on him, letting him catch my ample ass in his palms. I tackle him, and the towel he was using falls to the floor as I lick at the rapidly healing wound on his neck. He groans. Through our connection, I can feel his emotions as my teeth slice into his skin, the pain of the bite balancing on a razor’s edge with the pleasure of the moment. I want to d
rive him just as crazy as they’ve been driving me, so I lick his ear and begin to whisper every naughty and debauched thought in my mind. Before I finish, he’s slamming me up against the wall and starts grinding his hard cock against me.

  He’s so ready for me that it’s almost painful as the rock hard member tries, without success, to find the entrance of my molten core and sink into me. The thin material of my leggings mocks us both. I don’t care; I love it. I have found great pleasure in the art of dry humping since this whole thing started. And as he thrusts against me up against the wall, I do just that, calling out his name and sinking my nails deep into his shoulder. That last bit of pain sends him reeling, and he roars out his pleasure.

  I laugh as I look down at us. I’m covered in his cum, which I guess should be gross. But it’s a turn on. The fact that he wants me so badly that he doesn’t even need to be inside of me to cum is empowering.

  “Oh, Abby,” he groans, and slowly releases me to slide down the wall. “You are going to kill me if you keep this up.”

  “You can’t die by orgasm, Kaleb, and you love these little sessions.” Kaleb has gotten used to my sneak attacks. As my most playful boyfriend, he’s also the most receptive to surprise dry humps, and even better, surprise orgasms.

  “Well, now that you’re all sticky, why don’t we strip those pants off and you let me eat you out? I can smell your arousal, and you know what that does to me.” I feel his cock starting to harden again against my stomach.

  “Oh, you naughty little dragon. You want to plunder my treasure.”

  “Abby, that was corny, even for you.”

  I shrug, “Eh, so what. I’m only working with some of my brain cells. The rest are in my clit.”

  “Let’s say hello to them, shall we?” he says and slides my leggings off before turning me toward the wall. He gets on his knees and slings one of my thighs over his shoulder opening me up for him. He gives my pussy one long lick from top to bottom, “Goddess damn it; you taste exquisite. I want some more.”