His voice was almost a yell by the time he was done, and as soon as he’d closed his mouth, he knew he had made a mistake.
“Oh, brother…”
Alak felt the resignation to the approaching onslaught in Aeron’s quiet voice.
By the Goddess, the raw and potent rage he saw in Katrina’s golden eyes as she stood before him, her fists clenched, and her body tight in anger, made his cock hard to an almost painful state of want for her. She was magnificent. She was also an active volcano he had just awoken with his very foolish words.
Some thoughts he was clearly going to have to learn to just keep to himself if he intended to survive the courtship of their dragon.
Chapter Nine
“Out … now,” Katrina said through gritted teeth, inclining her head towards the door, her golden cheeks tingeing with a flushed bloom. Her eyes were wild as she looked from Alak to Aeron.
Aeron steeled himself for the tirade that would follow them out into the hallway, but not before imparting a few words to the once again cowering hyena shifter before he left. “It would be better for your health,” he began, “if you never crossed paths with Katrina again.” The extent of his mercy was allowing the hyena to live this time. He would not suffer such an affront to Katrina again.
His message was received loud and clear.
He and Alak both left the room, followed closely by Katrina. When he turned to face her, expecting the shouting match to begin, she nearly walked right into him, only angering her further. And yet, other than a growl, one he found sexy as sin, nothing else escaped her lips. She forcefully brushed against his shoulder, and she walked past him and Alak. He and his brother exchanged confused looks and then followed their fierce little warrior back to the bar and out onto the street.
The silence continued all the way back to the room they would be staying in, but as soon as the door was shut, Katrina, still red-faced, with her hands on her hips, began to speak. “Open up that portal. It’s time to go.” Her words were quiet, deadly sounding, not at all what he had been expecting from her at that moment.
“I do not think that’s wise,” Aeron stated. “This mission is not complete. We have learned much, but speaking to Melanie and gathering information about her experience firsthand should be our next step.”
“And I intend to do just that,” Katrina said, this time raising her voice. “I neither need, nor want, the two of you here. Your Vulcan mind-meld wasn’t required after all since Dunc regained his speech, and I’m pretty sure that Mel still has her tongue.”
“Who is this Vul-can?” Aeron asked, just as Alak said, “We are not going anywhere. This is not just your fight.”
And then the eruption of the volcano happened. “I never said that it was, but how dare you question my actions, as a trusted Beta no less! I fought and earned my position.” She looked directly at Alak as she yelled. “You think you have any sort of right to reprimand me and in front of a sniveling little man like Dunc?”
Next, she turned her ire on Aeron. “Don’t even think about apologizing for him again. He has a mouth and can speak on his own. Clearly, he hasn’t mastered the art of holding anything back.”
“Why should I hold any of my thoughts back?” Alak roared.
“I only apologize for my brother,” Aeron cut in, his own voice rising, “when I know that he regrets his choice of words, because what he has not mastered yet, is how to be apologetic or how to put things in a more delicate way. He was not completely off about his meaning, however, with regards to your recent actions.”
Katrina took a step back, her mouth open in disbelief. She shook her head and gritted her teeth. “If I was a man, you two chauvinistic pigs would not say this shit to me. My Alpha trusts and respects me. He doesn’t question my actions just because I am a female.”
Alak was about to speak up. No doubt something he would later regret would tumble out of his mouth, but Aeron put a hand on his chest and spoke to his brother. “I will have my say now. I have held back way too much.”
He turned to Katrina. “Your Alpha is not your mate,” he simply stated. “Alak and I are.” He was glad it was finally said aloud amongst the three of them, and even more so that neither one of them dared object, for if either of them had uttered a word to the contrary at that moment, Aeron would have let loose what a volcanic eruption and any other natural disaster would be terrified of. Satisfied, he continued. “This is not about you being a female, and has everything to do with the fact that you are our female. We will protect you and care for you without the need for your permission to do so.
“And you are mistaken on quite a few of your suppositions. Alak and I both do respect you. You are a fierce warrior, and had you been a male, mate or not, I would still be concerned for some of your recent actions.”
“You don’t get to question my actions.”
“As I already explained, I absolutely do. You are our mate.” He stretched his arm out towards the couch. “Please sit.” Her defensive stance did not appear to be letting up, and he much preferred to create a less tense environment for this discussion.
Katrina, however, haughtily arched one of her brows and crossed her arms over her chest.
“I’d like to make it so that she will not be able to sit for a week,” Alak grumbled.
Aeron rolled his eyes, obviously, a habit he’d picked up from the frustrating inhabitants of this realm. He chose to ignore Alak’s comment rather than apologize for him, especially since his brother’s comment was appealing to him as well at the moment.
“Very well, stand if it pleases you,” Aeron said before Katrina could speak again. He was not quite finished yet. “You looked puzzled earlier, Katrina, when Alak paid for the room with that fancy looking card. Gabe had given it to us. Alak simply altered the name.”
“O-kay,” she said dragging out the word. “What does that have anything to do with what we are discussing right now?”
“Everything,” Aeron replied, crossing his arms as well. He was getting more infuriated with her stubbornness by the minute. “I have come to understand the way your currency works here and the greed some have over it. Though Alak and I don’t always see eye to eye with your Alphas, I respect them both. They are good leaders, brave warriors, and fierce protectors over their people. They are not wealthy because they are greedy for riches. They use their money to house and protect their pack and pard, to create healing centers for your kind, and even to fund missions such as ours. That vile woman downstairs sought to make you feel less than because you were not able to purchase this room. Neither Alak nor I could allow that.”
Alak dipped his head in acknowledgement.
“She wouldn’t have succeeded,” Katrina said.
“That,” Aeron began, “is my point exactly, Katrina. You would be just as happy out in nature if not more so than being here.” He made a gesture with his hand indicating the room. “You are worthy of everything we can possibly give you in this world. I just pray that one day you will see that for yourself.”
She dropped her hands to her sides, relaxing her pose, but Aeron could clearly see that her emotional guard was still up like a fortress. She stayed silent though, adding to his ire.
“I would also question why you feel the need to get beaten up in that bar for such a small amount of reward, when we have just established that money is clearly not your motivation.” Softly, he added, “Male or female does not matter. The reasons behind why you would want to put yourself through all of that does.”
Still she said nothing, and Aeron’s patience finally snapped. With his voice rising, he said, “You may be a dominant cougar, but make no mistake, little kitten, my brother and I do not take orders.”
He took a step toward her, and with her eyes widening, she took a step back.
Another step forward from Aeron, followed by another step back by Katrina. “We will complete our mission together—the three of us—and if you flee, we will follow you.”
Their slow forward and ba
ckward dance continued until Katrina’s back hit the wall and Aeron stood right in front of her, so close in fact that their noses were almost touching. He trapped her with his arms outstretched and against the wall on either side of her head and inhaled her sweet and musky scent, nostrils flaring. “My kind does not have as keen sense of smell as a shifter, but I can still smell your desire, and your very essence is ingrained in me. There will be no place in any realm that you could hide from me.”
Katrina swallowed loudly. He might be getting his point across, but that did little to ease the frustrated emotions that flowed through him in this moment.
“And no one,” he continued, “will dare hurt you again. Not as long as Alak and I draw breath. You are our mate. It is our right and our privilege to keep you safe. You must accept what that means.”
Aeron didn’t give her a chance this time to respond or to not respond. Instead, he fused his lips with hers and tasted his mate for the first time, their tongues feverishly entwining. All too soon, he ended their kiss, reluctantly pushing himself away from the wall. This time it was Aeron who took a few steps back.
His heart beat rapidly as he stood there with his gaze locked on hers. He wanted to throw her on the bed and strip her before he fucked her into oblivion, but he was still too riled up. A mating fueled by anger would not result in the relationship he longed to have with her. He felt crazed with both need and revenge against all who ever dared harm his mate.
“I need some air,” he finally said. “Even though it’ll be the stench of the city.” He turned on his heel, sparing his brother only a quick glance, and slammed the door shut behind him.
Chapter Ten
Katrina exhaled sharply as the door swung closed behind Aeron. She hadn’t even realized she’d been holding her breath. Hell, as soon as Aeron had pressed his mouth to hers she’d been pretty sure she’d lost the ability to breathe at all.
“I hope you’re satisfied,” Alak said in a sharp tone, and Katrina swung back in his direction. “My brother is known through all the realms of our kingdom as a leader who is not shaken by anything. And yet, through your actions, you have built a frustration within him I have never felt before, and with the power we both have it would be wise for you to not allow that to happen again, and do as we ask.”
Katrina went from dazed and aroused, to pissed as hell in less than a second. The fact that her arousal didn’t ebb in the slightest as her rage soared, angered her even more. “Do as you ask? Really? You expect a mate to simply accept what you have to say as law and go with it? Please, Alak, the fifties called, and they want their stereotypically sexist opinions back.”
Alak frowned. “Who is this ‘fifties’, and why would they call to speak about me?”
Katrina threw her hands in the air, moving away from the wall and further into the hotel room. “You are all powerful and can open a portal between two countries, two realms, and into fucking Narnia for all I know, so why the hell can you not speak sarcasm?”
Alak arched a perfect brow in her direction, and it was all she could do not to reach out, shift her hand into claws, and cut the perfectly shaped arc from his face. “I know what you speak of. Sarcasm is the use of tone or irony that one might use to convey contempt or to mock another. I am fluent in more than sixteen languages, and all known Fae dialects beyond the Veil. Sarcasm is most definitely not a language.”
“It’s all I damn well speak,” Kat yelled back. “So if you want to understand me at all, then you’d better learn it!”
Alak crossed his arms over his chest, and Kat refused to watch the erotic roll of muscles in his chest and shoulders at the move. “You are being ridiculous. You stand here and demand that Aeron and I treat you as an equal, and yet you are unable to act responsibly with your own safety. Much like a child. If you are to act like a child, why would you then become enraged if we treat you as such?”
Kat growled low, her cat roaring to the surface so quickly it was only her own iron will that left her in her human form. “What the hell are you talking about? You’d better spell this out for me, Alak, or you and I are about to throw down in a very physical way.”
Alak’s gaze narrowed. “Why do you come all the way to this place so regularly to fight against other shifters? Aeron asked you a pretty straightforward question, which you stubbornly refused to answer. That tells me that perhaps you are not so keen on the answer yourself.”
Kat’s skin felt tight as her cougar paced within her. “I am Beta in one of North America’s largest pards. When Braxas decided to throw in with Gabe and Corrine, and we united with the pack, we became the largest shifter faction that I know of. Honing our combat skills and ensuring we can protect our weaker members is the responsible thing for a senior member of this faction to do.”
Alak stepped a little closer. “That all sounds like a perfectly rehearsed and logical answer, Katrina, but it does not make complete sense. The blessed union between Lady Corrine and her mates is very new, yet you have been coming here for years. You said so yourself. So why? I caught glimpses of the fear you had that came with the loss of control from being held captive. I can even understand your desire to try to reclaim it, but I suspect that there is more to it than just that. Why do you feel the need to travel away from those you are supposed to protect to come here to this city and face adversaries like that hideous man we met this afternoon?”
Katrina couldn’t remain stationary any longer and began to pace, moving a few steps away from the sofa and back again. She kept her gaze locked on the man in front of her. “I really don’t like being interrogated, Alak. Perhaps it’s part of this fucking spell I am casting over you and Aeron that you are continually accusing me of.”
“Perhaps it is!” Alak said with a raised voice. The two of them were on the verge of really yelling at each other, and damned if Kat wasn’t equal parts enraged and aroused by the exchange. “But this has nothing to do with the fact that you are our mate, we—”
“Supposedly your mate,” Kat yelled back, throwing her arms in the air in frustration. “Just because you can bring yourself to admit that you have a connection with a lowly shifter doesn’t mean that it’s real.”
Alak growled, his tattoos now flickering into full view. “Of course it is real! Perhaps, I too, feared the connection at first, but a mate is a most cherished gift from the Goddess, one Aeron and I would never forsake. And what is this business about being a lowly shifter? We do not place ourselves above others, and I find it insulting that you would think so.”
Kat paced forward a couple of steps. “Yet you can insult me quite easily! If I am your mate then I have to know my place, right?”
“That is not how it would be,” Alak all but roared. “But we will never get there if you cannot be honest with me. You cannot even be honest with yourself. Answer the question, Katrina. Why is it that you come here to this place, determined to put yourself in danger, fight these men who could never be worthy of your attention or the right to put their hands on you? Why, Katrina, why?”
“Because I was looking for a mate!” Kat found herself screaming back. “I am a dominant female cougar, Alak, and that is rarer than you know. Fucking Beta to a pard, a position I have earned through blood in the way of my kind. There is no male more dominant in our pard than me, except Braxas, and we were not destined for each other. Do you know what it is like to believe that you have been forsaken by the Fates? To believe that there would be no happily ever after for me? Even though I was born dominant, I’m still a woman who longs to be loved, to be held, to be cherished. I see it all around me, and I wanted it for myself. I figured if I came here and fought that I might actually lose. Then perhaps I could find a man more dominant than I, and if that happened I could find my happy ending!”
The only sound in the room for a moment was Katrina’s breathing. Alak stood, his arms now by his sides, those lickable tattoos permanently on display, and the expression on his face was hard to read. The desire in his eyes however, was very discernible. H
eat pooled within her.
Later, Kat would never be able to say who moved first, but they both crossed the room toward each other. As she reached him, she threw her arms over his shoulders and reveled in the feeling of his muscular arms wrapping around her waist. He pulled her up against his hard chest, and she wrapped her legs around his hips. Alak kept moving, the hard evidence of his arousal pushing against her in the most delicious way. His mouth came down on hers just as he slammed them both into the wall behind her, taking the brunt of the impact with the hand that came up beside her head, and Kat gave herself over to the kiss.
****
Aeron took another calming breath. Never before had he allowed his feelings to overwhelm him to the point where he walked away from a conversation. He always kept a cool head, but Katrina’s emotional wall she’d placed between them had shattered that ability. He had only walked to the end of the corridor and was currently pacing back and forth in front of the bank of elevators. Even with the emotions rolling within him, he couldn’t bring himself to go too far away from his mate. Despite only having known her for a short while, he was completely drawn to her, and the thought of distance between them had an actual pain forming in his chest.
He reached up to press the palm of his right hand against the ache. He had always imagined that finding his mate would have brought nothing but happiness and joy for the future. This pain and angst were unexpected. Images of his beautiful mate flickered through his mind. The way she looked that first moment he laid eyes on her, despite being covered with blood and fresh from battle, she was a beacon of fierce beauty that called to him like no other. He adored the flash of spirit that flickered through her golden eyes in the moments before she threw her words at him and his brother like sharpened weapons. Their mate was strong, powerful enough to stand toe to toe with the High Dorum and protect those around her with a grace and fierceness he had rarely seen in others.
She was worth the pain and angst they’d face in order to find their way together. She was worth … everything. Filled with a determination to make her see that he and Alak were her future as she was most definitely theirs, he moved quickly back down the hallway toward the room they shared. As he approached the door he could feel the swell of emotion and power in the air. He could also hear raised voices in the room as he reached out to open the door.
Fighting Faete Page 5