Pride

by H. C. Brown

“I will take your pretty head with the same blade as I used on your uncle.” Passio laughed and sent a bolt of lightning at Dallin.

  To Lailii’s relief, Dallin lifted his barrier in time to prevent injury, but the force knocked him off his feet. Gods, Passio was growing stronger by the second.

  “At least I am willing to die like a man.” Dallin sprung to his feet. “You fight with magyck. Are you afraid you will lose if we meet on an even field?”

  Heart pounding, Lailii glanced from one to the other. The men began to circle each other, readying for combat. From the other side of the Gate, Stryker pleaded, urging her to leave. On the floor, Kaos began to move, slowly gaining consciousness. Biting her bottom lip, Lailii wiped the dripping handle of the dirk on her dress. Keeping her back to the wall, she inched slowly past the fight, and then ran toward Kaos. The semi-conscious demon tried to roll away from her attack, his arms flailing. She rolled with him, driving the dirk into his neck. Hot, crimson blood poured down her chest and splattered over her face. Kaos’ red eyes faded to green and rolled back in his head. She crawled away. Across the ballroom, Passio, laughing like a maniac, had Dallin pressed against the wall, their swords locked. The muscles in Dallin’s arms bunched with the strain of holding the demon’s blade from his throat.

  “Go.” Dallin yelled at Lailii. “For our son.”

  Fighting the lump in her throat, Lailii ran for the Gate.

  Stryker caught Lailii and carried her into the cave. He set her down and pressed a bottle of water into her hand. “Stay here.”

  “Passio will kill him.” Lailii sobbed. “We have to do something.” She lifted her face to the heavens. “Dear Lady, I beg you, save my mate, your champion, from the demon. He is brave and loyal. Do not let him die like this.”

  Stryker ran back to the Gate. Dallin, his face a mask of determination, forced Passio back, using brute force. The demon struck again, his blade slicing across Dallin’s armor and ripping the tunic from his body. Dark spirals of smoke began to dance around the room. Dallin began to choke as the dark magyck poured into his lungs. Passio stood back, grinning, as if waiting for Dallin to fall. Stryker’s hands formed into fists, and he took a step forward.

  “You will die if you proceed.”

  “Then he will not die alone.” Stryker said without hesitation. But then… Who had spoken?

  He spun around. Time stood still. Arious!

  Stryker fell to his knees before the god of war, the creator of all the Prides. The god stood seven feet tall and bore a striking resemblance to Dallin. Stryker bowed his head. “I am humbled, great one.”

  “Being humble will not help my mate’s champion. Although, I am sure the Great One will scold me for my interference. The Prides have come a long way since I created the first shifter. Tell my Prides how proud I am of your progress.” He turned to Lailii. “Child, know that we never deserted you. Boda placed you here to enhance the Prides. Long ago, your mother paired another Spellweaver with her first champion for the same reason. Dallin is her son you were destined to be his mate.” He turned to Stryker, drew his sword, and dropped it blade first into a small patch of grass before the cave. “Take the Sword of Vengeance. Throw it through the Gate to Dallin so he may rid the world of Lord Passio.” The god faded into the breeze.

  Stryker jumped to his feet. He grabbed Vengeance and ran toward the Gate.

  “Do not go through.” Lailii rushed to his side. “Do as he says, and throw Dallin the sword.”

  Dallin gasped for breath. His sword slipped from his grasp, and he waited for the deathblow. The cold wall pressed against his sweat-soaked back. Passio’s blade pushed against his throat, and the warm wetness of his own blood trickled down his chest. It would be over soon. His gaze flicked toward the Gate for one last look at his mates. Stryker, his face ashen, stood at the Gate and held up a golden sword encrusted with jewels—he recognized it immediately from castle paintings. The mythical Vengeance? Sword of Arious. Could it be true?

  With his last ounce of strength, he forced Passio’s blade from his neck and reached for the dagger at his waist. He plunged the blade into Passio’s thigh repeatedly. The demon screeched and stumbled back. Stryker yelled something undistinguishable, his voice an eerie echo, and then threw the sword through the Gate.

  Dallin lifted his arm. Vengeance flew hilt over tip, landing heavily in his hand. A rush of power surged through him until his ears hummed with magyck. He dragged off his helmet and threw it to the floor. Passio regenerated in seconds and stalked forward. Dallin gripped the perfectly balanced blade and turned to one side to face his opponent. The demon danced forward, slashing his sword. With one sweep, Dallin sliced off the demigod’s right arm. Passio gazed at him with disbelief, and then looked down at his dismembered limb still clutching the weapon.

  “That was for killing my uncle.”

  Dallin sliced off Passio’s other arm. “That was for touching my mate.”

  Behind him, Kaos got to his feet. Dallin spun around and sliced him in half. He turned back to Passio. “This is for mankind.” With one blow, he decapitated the demon.

  Lifting his chin, Dallin skirted the pools of blood on the floor and headed for the Gate. He stepped out of the Underworld, glad to feel the sunshine on his face. He hugged Stryker and dragged Lailii into his arms. “Passio is dead. You were so brave, little one.” He kissed her hair. “You weaved a spell to freeze the Gate. Do you have another to seal it?”

  “Yes, the magyck of the Prides surges through me.” She turned and threw a spell at the Gate. Then she rested her hand on Dallin’s arm and looked up at him. “You do know Kaos will regenerate, do you not?”

  Dallin looked down at her blood-splattered face and frowned. “Gods, I should have taken his head too.”

  “It will take him a while to open more Gates.” Stryker glanced behind him into the blackened Gate. “Will it not?”

  With a shrug, Dallin pulled them close. “We will deal with that if and when the time comes.” He met Stryker’s gaze. “Call the dragon. We are going home.”

  * * * *

  Dallin ignored the fanfare surrounding their arrival at Knight Watch Castle, waving away the concerns of his people with a smile of reassurance. His priority rested on getting his mates safely back to their quarters. He glanced at Stryker’s chalk-white face and realized how close they had all come to death by the hands of the demons. Thank the gods Arious had arrived to save the day. Arious, to think, the Great One would believe I am worthy enough to save. Under his arm, Lailii trembled, and although their stop at the hot springs to bathe had soothed her to some extent, her eyes told him another story. She needed the comfort and love of her mates to banish this experience from her mind, if only for a short time.

  Inside their chambers, he opened his arms and drew his mates to his chest, rubbing their backs in comforting circles. “It will be fine. It is over. I will not allow anyone to hurt us again.” He pressed kisses to Stryker’s cheek. “Your courage saved me, and you my beautiful Lailii, used your intellect to outwit a demon. Our son will be a formidable warrior with the traits you have given him.”

  “The daughter of the Goddess and an immortal prince makes my contribution worthless.” Stryker dropped his gaze to the floor, and his mouth turned down in a dejected expression. “Perhaps, you should visit the Lady again and make sure I am worthy of this bond.”

  Dallin opened his mouth to reply, but Lailii grasped Stryker’s arm and shook him vigorously.

  “You are mine, Dallin is mine, and I will never give up either of you. My father gave you his sword. Has he ever offered another such a divine gift? You are more worthy, as you offered your life to save Dallin. Our child is the product of our love, and will require his fathers, both of you to make him the King, he will one day become. I need both of you or my heart will surely shrivel and die.”

  She turned to Dallin. “Now, no more speeches, I require the love and comforting of my mates in our bed.” She raised a brow and her full lips turned up in a sexy smil
e. “Are you coming?” She peeled off her long dress and with a wiggle of hips strolled into the bedchamber.

  Dallin grinned at Stryker. “I do believe our female requires our attention.” He dragged him into his arms. “But first, always remember I love you with all my heart and have for a very long time.” He bent to take Stryker’s willing mouth in a long demanding kiss.

  His mate clung to him responding with a familiar dance of tongues. Dallin deepened the kiss and ground his hard shaft into his lover’s thigh, to give him proof of his devotion.

  A shiver went through Stryker and he broke the kiss, his lips glossy, and swollen.

  “I love you too, Dallin.” He glanced toward the bedchamber door. “Come, our mate is waiting.”

  *

  Lailii observed the passionate encounter between her men and sighed. Gods the sight of them kissing made her pussy ache with need. Her mouth watered with each garment they stripped from their bodies, and she opened her arms to welcome them. The bed dipped and as Dallin opened her thighs to lavish devotion on her folds, she moaned in ecstasy. Beside her, Stryker kissed his way up her torso, one hand tormented her tender nipple then his hot wet mouth closed around the other.

  Ripples of pleasure grew into flames of delight and she writhed under their delicious ministrations but wanted more. “Please, I want you inside me, both at the same time.”

  Dallin lifted his head and grinned like a donkey.

  “I am sure we would love to honor your request, but I fear for the safety of our child.”

  She giggled and rolled her hips in invitation. “If I can protect my child from a demon, sex is hardly going to worry him.”

  Stryker’s mouth came away from her breast with a pop.

  “Well, if you are sure?” He reached for a tub of cream and tossed it to Dallin then grinned at her nod of approval. “Whatever you desire, we are most willing to comply.”

  Dallin applied cream to her ass with an overzealousness that surprised her then crawled up her body, kissing a wet path from mound to lips. She drank in his kisses, delirious with the taste of him. When he lifted his head and smiled at her, she trembled in anticipation.

  “Lie on top of me, little one. I want your ass this time.” He rolled onto his back and pulled her against his chest. “Open for me, and Stryker will guide me inside.”

  The hot helmet of Dallin’s cock pressed against her lubricated hole and a roll of his hips had him buried deep inside. She gasped. So thick and hot, he filled her to the limit. When he moved, the room wavered in and out of focus. “Oh, gods, Dallin, that feels so good.”

  “It will feel even better soon.” Stryker bent to suckle one nipple and then the other. “Are you ready for me, my love?” He positioned his thick cock at her slick entrance then dragged the head back and forth over her throbbing clit.

  Gasping with pleasure, she nodded. “Gods yes, please, Stryker, I need you.”

  With Dallin’s thick length taking up the small space, she forced her muscles to relax and the head of Stryker’s shaft pushed slowly inside her pussy. Panting, she rolled in the exquisite delight of complete fullness, stretched beyond belief, she moaned in appreciation.

  Stryker’s determined expression made her giggle then he thrust deep and she spiraled into erotic euphoria. The edges of her vision blurred and with each delicious thrust, curls of lust shimmered up her thighs and surrounded her clit. When Dallin drove deep inside her in a steady, thrilling pace, she shuddered with pleasure.

  “I can feel you rubbing against me.” Dallin touched Stryker’s cheek with one long finger. “Gods, I won’t last long.”

  “Neither will I. Already her beautiful pussy is milking my cock.” Stryker barred his fangs. “Lailii, come for us sweetheart.”

  She pushed her fingers into Stryker’s hair and nuzzled Dallin’s neck. She inhaled the comforting musky scents of her mates and sighed. Each time they made love to her, she experienced more intense delights. They moved in perfect unison, driving her higher and higher into bliss, and she hovered in that beautiful place between delight and release for a few precious moments before a burst of heat filled her ass.

  “Now, my loves, join me, come for me.” Dallin sunk his sharp fangs into her shoulder.

  As venom rushed along her excited nerve endings, heightening the sensations, she stared into Stryker’s hooded gaze, gave herself to the pleasure, and shuddered into an extended orgasm. So hot, so wonderful she clung to her mates, trembling.

  Dallin’s voice broke through the erotic fog.

  “Are you all right, little one?”

  She stretched and smiled. Her future with her handsome, besotted mates would be wonderful. “I am perfect.”

  Epilogue

  Dallin stood at the open window. The scent of roses drifted up from the garden below. Moonlight flowed into the room, casting velvet shadows across the rug. He gazed down at his son. They had decided to call him Alaric. With the black hair of Knight Watch and the curls of the Talynx, the Lady had blessed him with the combined looks of both fathers. Dallin kissed the infant’s pink cheek and touched the black hair that stuck up in every direction. Alaric gazed up at him with the opalescent eyes of Knight Watch flecked with green and silver. Pure, white magyck glowed from this grandchild of the Lady. He would become the most powerful of all Knight Watch. Dallin smiled and pressed a kiss to his cheek. He gazed at Lailii, sleeping peacefully in Stryker’s arms, and his heart filled with joy.

  So much had happened these past weeks. As king of Knight Watch, he had passed new laws and made plans to visit all the Prides of the Twelve Gates. His father, King Blaise had arrived with Nox and Hawke to welcome the new prince. The demon threat would never be over, and he discussed plans with them for the future safety of the realms.

  Revelation of Lailii’s identity and her immortality, not to mention his own, had brought mixed reactions. He knew Stryker feared growing old and passing through the veil alone. The thought of watching his mate and brothers die filled him with trepidation. He lifted Alaric onto his shoulder and began to pat the cub’s back. What could he do? His son would never become king, as he would never die. Perhaps, he would tire of being king and abdicate? That sounded a fair proposition, but losing Stryker would tear him apart.

  The air shimmered, and the Lady materialized in a blue haze. The Lady made frequent visits to see Alaric. Heaven’s above, I will never get used to having the goddess for a mother-in-law. Dallin drew Alaric close to his chest. “Forgive me for not kneeling, dear Lady.”

  “You are troubled?” The Lady’s face creased into a frown. “I bound you and Stryker for all eternity. Think you I would take him from you?”

  Dallin met the Lady’s gaze. “You made me immortal. He will die.”

  “I would not be so cruel.” She smiled benevolently. “Stryker and all your cubs are immortals. The Great One is most pleased with you. He has granted you the ability to bestow immortality on those you think worthy.”

  “That is a great responsibility.” Dallin shook his head. “Kings will rule for thousands of years, and no progress will be made. How can it work? We will be falling over each other.”

  “Not so, I gave this gift to your father a long time ago and his Pride continues to thrive in harmony. You are living proof of this, Dallin. There are millions of realms for immortals to rule. There are dimensions similar to this one that need your help. My people need the knowledge of the Knight Watch. Send your brothers and your sons to explore new realms and bring all under the love and guidance of the Great One. Set into place rules of succession. The Fae do much the same, and Nox is most willing to guide you.”

  Dallin lifted his son from his shoulder and cradled him in his arms. “How do I find these realms?”

  “Lailii is a Spellweaver. She will show you the way.” The Lady laughed. “You will be a great king, Dallin. Learn to trust in your own judgment. Your new life has just begun, and it will be a fantastic journey.” She faded into a blue mist and then vanished.

  Dallin
glanced down at his son. His precious cub was finally asleep. He walked across the room to lay him down in a crib beside the bed. Tenderly, he wrapped him in a blanket. He kissed Alaric’s head, and then gazed at his mates sleeping so peacefully. He sighed. The Lady had granted his wish and his mates would be beside him for eternity. Gods, for the first time in his life, he understood contentment. He smiled into the darkness. Life had become a thrilling adventure.

  THE END

  Author Biography

  H.C. Brown is a multi-published, bestselling, award-winning author of Historical, Paranormal, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, BDSM, Time Travel, Action Adventure, and Contemporary Romance.

  In 2015 she was delighted to be named Luminosity Publishing’s Bestselling Author of 2014

  In 2011, she received nominations in three categories in the 2011 CAPA Awards: Favorite Author, Best GLBT Romance and Best Science Fiction Romance.

  She was nominated for Best Historical M/M in the 2013, Goodreads Book of Year Awards.

  H.C writes about strong alpha male heroes and girl next door heroines in complex settings, and all her stories have happy endings.

  H.C. welcomes feedback from her readers.

  Website

  Facebook

  Twitter

  WWW.LUMINOSITYPUBLISHING.COM

  H.C. BROWN