“That was before I grew up. I learned that Sam is not ‘god’. Something that the rest of you need to learn.” Julian was still refusing to look at her.
“Do you two know each other?” Brindle turned teary eyes to Lilith and nodded.
“Meet my brother, Julian. Or the ghost of the man that used to be.”
Lilith gasped. “But I thought I met all of your family?”
“You met all that are alive.” Brindle glared at Julian for emphasis.
“Well as you can see I am very much alive.” Julian looked so very angry.
Her dark hair glimmered in the light as she shook her head. “No, Julian, you are dead to me. As you are to the rest of the family. You died many years ago when you chose that bitch over us.”
A threatening cloud came over his face as he took a step toward her and bent down to put his face close to her own. “That bitch was my mate.” It was a hiss.
“No she wasn’t. She was evil.” Brindle hissed back.
“Sam killed her. He destroyed my only chance at happiness. Now he thinks that he can just take a mate—this woman—and he will live life happily ever after with her. That, dear little sister, is not going to happen.” Julian’s rage was palpable in the air.
“You will not succeed Julian. Sam will stop you.”
“Ha! No he won’t but it is good to know where your loyalty lays.” His laughter was mechanical, empty.
“And what of father? He gave you life.”
He turned his head away to hide the emotion that swept across his face. “He made his bed. Now he must lie in it. It was his choice, his decision.”
“You didn’t give him much of a choice now did you?”
“Whatever. Enough about that. Why are you here?” Julian tried to take the focus from himself, challenging his little sister to explain.
“I told you to ask your lap dog. Damon brought me here and told me how much ‘fun’ we are going to have.”
Julian’s face turned red. “I must find him—now!”
As if on cue, Damon strutted into the room with his head held high.
“What is the meaning of this Damon?” Julian stood nose to nose with his right hand man, demanding an explanation for Brindle’s presence. Lilith realized she had not been part of the revenge plan. This should be interesting…
Damon sneered his usual sneer, “What do you mean?”
“Why is my sister here?” Julian’s words were measured, as if he was struggling to keep himself from lunging at Damon and wiping that smug look from his gaunt face.
Damon turned to see Brindle free, glaring at him with her hands on her hips. The red welts from his restraints on her delicate wrists caught his eye and he smiled.
Turning back to Julian, he said, “You said I could have what I wanted from the village, just to leave the bitch untouched, and that Sam was yours. I wanted Brindle.”
“No! You know she is off limits. You will not have her. She is to be released from here, immediately. Now that she knows everything, Sam will know who has his mate.”
“All the more reason for me to keep her.” Damon laughed out loud at his own wit, and looked up and down Brindle’s womanly figure.
“You will never touch me you disgusting jackass. Do you understand me? I would rather die than lay with you. And if you force me, I will kill you.” She spit in his direction for emphasis.
Damon scoffed at her. “You may try my dear, but that is one thing that will never happen.”
“You will have someone take her home! Now! Do you understand me? If you do not then I will kill you myself Damon!” Julian’s voice thundered through the house, making the windows shake.
Damon seemed unimpressed by the threat and turned to stride away. Brindle knew this wasn’t over for him, but she turned to glare at Julian instead. “We thought you were dead. Why didn’t you come home? Why are you doing this? You need to let Lilith go. Let her come with me, please brother.”
Julian was amazed at Brindle’s questions. “Why am I doing this? How many times must I repeat it? Because… Sam… killed… my… mate. Do we really have to keep going over this? He took my mate from me and now I will take his mate from him. The end! And as far as the family is concerned? I am dead. I died with her—the one person who accepted me for who I was.”
“We accepted you Julian. We just couldn’t accept her. She was pure evil. Her intentions for you and the power you offered her with marrying into our Clan were not honorable!”
“No. You wouldn’t accept her because she was a witch. And look what we have here. Sam’s mate is a witch, too. Seems only fair that I kill her. That is after I make Sam suffer like he did me.”
“No Julian. Don’t do this. Please!”
Suddenly Lilith threw her hands to her temples and screamed in pain. Everything was spinning uncontrollably. I can’t see! Everything went black for her and she fell to the floor in a heap.
Chapter 4
Lilith woke to find herself inside her little cabin prison again. She coughed on the cloying thick smoke that surrounded her. Instinctively, she crawled along the floor, trying to keep below the smoke. She slid silently keeping her head down until she could feel the wood of the open door. She peered around it from her place on the floor, seeing nothing but more smoke and flames rising outside her room. Her head pounded like a jackhammer but she valiantly tried to stand. The sudden sickening dizziness returned and she dropped to her knees. He must have poisoned me but how? A large hand suddenly grabbed a handful of her tangled hair and cruelly jerked her to her feet.
“Come on witch. You are going with me.” She looked up at Julian and knew that there was no way she would be able to escape from him as long as she was suffering with this brain fog. She just looked at him pleadingly as he clamped his rough hand around her wrist and started to drag her behind him. She tripped over her feet before righting herself and stumbling forward again. This just angered him more. When they finally reached safety, a large SUV, she leaned back against it gulping in large breaths of air and choking.
“Why are you doing this?” She managed to speak between coughing fits. “Because something happened to your mate? You know that I had nothing to do with it. Why make me suffer?”
He looked at her with what seemed to be sympathy. It caught her off guard when he answered, “I am sorry you are caught in the crossfire. It was not my intention to make you suffer. Just Sam.”
“Julian?” Lilith knew that voice.
She turned to see Sam standing there. He stared at Julian with wide eyes.
“Hello Sam.”
Sam could not help himself. Forgetting that Lilith was there and that Julian had her tightly in his grip, Sam shouted, “You are alive! We all thought you were dead. We saw you go over with Elena. Why didn’t you come home to us?”
Julian finally had his chance to face the man he believed had ruined his life. “I have been planning this day since that day you took Elena from me. Waiting to see the torment in your eyes when you lose your mate. Watch you see me take everything from you that should have been mine. I was the eldest and what happened? Father made you alpha because he didn’t approve of my mate. Well too bad. Now I will take your mate and you will suffer as I have this past year.”
“I am sorry about Elena. Really I am but it was not something that was in my power to stop. And she was not right for you. She was cruel and vindictive…”
Julian cut Sam off, pure rage in his voice. “You will not say her name again. Her sweet name shouldn’t come from lips that are corrupted with unjust criticism. She was an angel. My angel! And now she is gone because of you. You took her from me!” His anguished cry echoed around the mountains as he lunged for Sam.
Sam tried to fight him off, tried to reason with him. “No Julian she did it to herself. Please brother stop this.”
Knocked away by Sam’s defensive punch, Julian raged on. “You are not my brother. None of you are my family.” He swept his hand out to the people now gathered around them. “This isn’t over.” H
e pointed to Sam and before anyone could react, he had shoved Lilith at Sam and jumped into his truck. The wheels threw up gravel as he raced away in the large SUV almost hitting two men in the process. They quickly mobilized, ready to go after him.
Sam stopped them. Raising his hand, he looked sadly at his brothers. He tightened his arms around Lilith. Making sure she was alright was his only concern. “Let him go. I will deal with him later.”
Lilith grabbed two handfuls of his shirt to keep herself as close to him as she could. She buried her face in his chest as he comforted her. She felt safe and warm and for the first time in her life, even after the fear of the last few hours, she felt like she belonged. She raised her head to gaze into his blue, blue eyes.
The sounds of the forest suddenly went silent, replaced with the most incredible whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, as if a thousand birds had taken flight all around her. Lilith looked away from Sam to see there were dragons all around them. Dragons! They were in the air and on the ground. As she watched in awe and disbelief, one by one they approached her and Sam, knelt and then took flight soaring in the crisp mountain air.
“What are they doing?” She looked to Sam as he took a knee at her feet.
It was Brindle’s voice that answered her as she walked up and took a place at Lilith’s side. “They are pledging you their loyalty. We are pledging you our loyalty. You were willing to sacrifice yourself for someone who was not your blood. You gave no thought to your own welfare, instead thinking only of one of your Clan. That is the act of a true Queen, Lilith. Each of those in the Clan will give their life for you now. My Queen.” Brindle kneeled in front of her as Lilith stood there spellbound.
Sam had risen and was beside her now. He reached out to caress her cheek as the tears began to stream down her face. “I wish I could be like that,” she murmured against his warm hand.
“Like what?” Sam raised her face to look into her shining green eyes.
“A dragon.”
He chuckled. “Well, as I told you there is much to know about yourself and the Clan. As the Queen, when we marry you are given the gift as well. You will also be able to transform.”
“Really?” Lilith was thunderstruck by the idea. It was outrageous but she took it as truth—why should she doubt it? I didn’t believe in dragons until now.
“Yes. Are you happy you trusted your instincts, trusted me, all of us?”
“Yes. I feel like I belong for the first time in my life.” Lilith meant it with all her heart. She was suddenly comforted by the realization that all she had endured, all those years of being alone because she was the odd child, the weird girl, it all led to this glorious family. This glorious man.
“And you do. You will always belong with the Clan and me.” Sam wrapped her in the arms she had come to feel were hers and hers alone. And Lilith buried her face in his chest, just to hear that strong, reassuring heart.
“Yes. With you.”
THE END
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Romance: Scifi Romance: Mated by the Alien (Abduction BWWM Paranormal Romance) (Interracial First Contact Space Romance) Page 19