“Yeah, go on and ride me, baby. Your pussy feels so good around my dick. This is exactly right,” he groaned.
I moved faster as my pleasure increased, winding me tighter and tighter until I couldn’t hold it inside. I grasped his hand, linking my fingers through his. Lance pushed up to sitting, wrapping his free arm around my back, lifting his hips to grind himself into me up to the hilt. The pressure of his pelvic bone against my clit pushed me over the edge, and I threw my head back, gasping out his name as my walls clenched around him, and waves of pleasure crashed through me.
“I’m going to fill you with my cum now,” Lance growled. He lifted his hips, a growl rumbling through him as his own release filled me with liquid heat.
Wrapping my legs around his hips and my arms around his neck, I lay back and let the orgasm rock through me. When it subsided, I collapsed forward into his arms, dropping my head against his shoulder while my heart still raced. Lance sucked in a breath through his teeth, and a second later I felt the familiar, searing pain of a True Mate mark burning itself into my skin.
There it was—my third mark. My wolf sang with joy as she accepted what she’d already known. I had three True Mates.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Scarlet
In the light of morning, I was intensely grateful that my mother had gone with the submissives to the safehouse. If I revealed Lance’s true mate mark, her beautiful face would have lit up, and the first thing she would have crowed was that she told me so. Then she would have happily discussed Lance and my consummation with anyone who’d listen to her.
“Good morning, sunshine. Just in time for breakfast,” Aaron said as I climbed onto the counter beside him. “You need to eat to regain your strength.” Scooting between my legs, he gave me a wicked grin, leaned in and whispered, “Cu-min.”
“What?” I asked.
“It’s a spice.” With that, he stepped away and headed for the frying pan.
Spice. Right. The password thing.
Oh, fuck.
Lance and I had forgotten to use the password. Obviously, we’d been lucky that time, as I wouldn’t have gained a true mate mark with an imposter.
And you’d be dead, dumbass.
Oh yeah. And that. I’d have to be a lot more careful from now on.
Aaron pushed a heaping plate of bacon next to me on the counter while cracking eggs into the pan.
Jane stepped into the kitchen, her attention fixed on her phone screen as usual. She didn’t even look up as I held out a strip of bacon. She just took it and leaned against the counter. After a second, she said, “First, my tech guy said that he’s closing in on Necro-Nancy. The woman has one hell of a security system, but he thinks he can hack into her phone and get us an address.”
“Second?” I asked through a mouthful of crispy bacon.
“Second, I’ve been looking up the witches and wizards at the party, starting with the one who worked with Zane. Marisa Tyler posted on her social media about every eight minutes. How she kept her job as a nurse, I have no idea. I’m wading through thousands of memes, but she posted something in one of her groups,” Jane said, showing me her phone screen.
I couldn’t help but notice that the page said, Carrie’s bridesmaids, private group, at the top. Marisa’s post was below.
Hey ladies, Cross your fingers. Big news coming soon. Maybe dreams can come true. Who knew? Margaritas on me—either celebrating or drinking the pain away lol. Love you!
“She wrote that the morning of the party,” Jane said.
I reached toward the screen. “Can I read the comments?”
Jane and I read them, but the comments didn’t give us anything useful. The girls just posted happy screaming gifs and said things like, “If anyone deserves happiness, it’s you!” A few asked Marisa what was happening, but she responded that it was a secret for now.
By the time I finished reading, tears had pooled in my eyes. It was one thing to learn that twenty-six people died and something else entirely to see a glimpse of the joy and love that one of those people gave out in life.
“Why are you crying?” Jane’s brow furrowed. “This mage clearly had some ulterior motive in attending the party, one that would make her dreams come true.”
I scrubbed my tears away, but more followed. “Maybe Marisa was somehow involved. But she also woke up that morning excited, thinking that her dreams might come true. Now they never will.” Reaching forward, I touched her name to link to her profile page, but the moment I saw her feed, I wished I hadn’t. There were hundreds of social media messages from her friends, family, and well-wishers. Photos of Marisa smiling and laughing crowded her feed. “I’m amazed the news isn’t all over us.”
“They are. We’ve been able to suppress the pack’s involvement thus far, but that might end at any minute.”
Still, we’d been able to avoid the press this long. I had all new respect for the gifted lawyer. The moment the newspapers got involved, so did the NALC. The thought made my heart sink because I realized that perhaps having the NALC take over wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.
Yes, they’d want me to step down as alpha.
Yes, it would destroy any chance at a peaceful resolution.
But my wolves would have a better chance of survival if the NALC sent in their teams of trained soldiers with weapons that could combat the fae.
I only let the thought percolate in my mind for a couple minutes before I tossed it in the trash, where it belonged. Going to war with the fae over a lie was wrong, any way you looked at it. The only way to end this was to find the truth.
I took another few strips of bacon and stuffed them into my mouth.
Jane gave me a look. “Right now, wading through the messages on the four dead mages’ social media is taking up hours of time and giving no information. They weren’t friends—not on any of their accounts. They had several friends in common, but they all appear to be union reps. The Mage Union and Witch and Wizard Assembly are closed, and their website uses something other than the conventional internet. For these reasons, I can’t confirm this, but Marisa appeared to be out of work for the last six months and going back to her work as a nurse. The other three were involved in separate jobs. There’s no obvious connection except the Mage Union.”
“Did you find the union necromancer?”
“Yes,” Jane said. “But I’m afraid he won’t be answering any questions. Morte with no last name—or, that was what he legally changed his name to at eighteen.” Jane turned the phone, showing a bright-eyed teenager. The guy looked like he’d been taking union jobs between his freshman high school classes, though his profile claimed his age was nineteen. He had long silver hair and a bare chest, and from his pose, I could tell the photo was supposed to look smoldering, but he couldn’t pull it off with his baby face.
“He died at the party,” I whispered. Goodbye posts filled his page as well, most from friends from across the globe saying heartfelt goodbyes to a friend they’d never met in real life. In the end, their hearts were broken at his loss.
One of my tears fell onto the phone screen, and Jane yanked it back as if her device might spontaneously combust. After wiping her screen carefully, she said, “Morte’s social media is equally cluttered and devoid of useful information.”
“At least we can rule him out as a suspect,” Aaron said, appearing at my side with a plateful of sunny-side up eggs. “Let’s call Darrel in and put our heads together.”
Jane’s phone erupted in beeping, and she jumped so high that for a moment I worried my tears had triggered her beloved phone’s self-destruct mode. But the screen only lit up with a series of messages. She lifted it to show us. “And…he’s in. My tech guy is sending over the address where Necro-Nancy lives now. Time to make a house call.”
***
When we pulled up outside Necro-Nancy’s, it was evident that “house call” was a bit of an overstatement. I could easily believe that a mage lived in this place only because it would
take some serious magic to keep it from folding like a house of cards.
The entire building sagged to one side. Siding jutted loose in a dozen places. Sheet metal covered two sections of the roof like lopsided eyes. At first, I thought she had some sort of strange plant stems all over her yard, but upon closer inspection, I saw that they were actually rusted knives protruding from the dirt and straggly grass in the yard. A large red “condemned” sign had been nailed into the front door below an upside-down horseshoe.
Mack opened the van sliding door, and immediately shut it. “Looks like I’ll be waiting in the van.”
“What?” I asked from beside him on the bench seat. Both Aaron and Jane had already unloaded from the front. “Why? Is the horseshoe iron?”
Mack nodded toward the house. “Everything is pure iron—all of it.”
The front door of the van opened, and Mack winced, looking like he was in real pain as Aaron stuck his head in. “Apparently, this lady has a thing for horseshoes.”
“Aaron, we should go,” I said. “This place is surrounded by pure iron.”
“No.” Mack touched my arm. “I’m fine in the car. I’ll act as your lookout and getaway driver.”
A very familiar form filled the front door, holding a three-bolt crossbow.
“What the...?” I leaned in, peering through the window, “You have got to be kidding me. Zeezee?”
My sister stood there, looking like an extra from a post-apocalyptic zombie movie in ripped jeans and a sports bra, aiming a crossbow straight at Jane.
To Jane’s credit, she simply glanced up from her phone, reached in her pocket and pulled out a business card. “Zeezee Riley, your pack hired me as your lawyer.”
“Damn it.” I turned to Mack. “You take the van—”
“I’m fine here. I’ll wait while you figure out what’s going on. And, Scarlet...” Mack leaned in so close that his lips brushed my ear. “Grains of paradise.” The way he said the word was positively indecent. He and Aaron had to have looked up the most sexual sounding spices or something.
I shook my head. “Mack, if you feel the least bit ill, just drive.”
“Go.” Mack bumped his shoulder against mine. “Before your sister shoots her own lawyer.”
As I rounded the van, a second woman stepped up beside my sister. She leaned into the doorframe, one boot kicked over the other. This woman didn’t mess around with earrings. She had a full horseshoe hanging off a fat chain on her neck. She stood at about five-two, maybe shorter without her shit-kicking heels. Her face was youthful, but she had long gray hair that she’d pulled up into a high ponytail.
One glance at my sister and I saw a huge horseshoe hanging around her neck as well. Zeezee also wore her dark hair in a high ponytail, and she looked to be wearing the woman’s clothing. Upon seeing me, Zeezee pointed her weapon to the sidewalk. Under her breath, she whispered, “Fuck.”
“Yep, Zeezee. Fuck is right.”
“Seriously, what’s with the necklaces?” Aaron asked as we headed up the driveway.
“Maybe they’re feeling lucky,” I grumbled.
“Scarlet Riley, alpha of Six Rivers, I presume. Took you long enough,” the woman said, her voice surprisingly low for her size. She had the voice I’d expect to hear from a lounge singer in a movie. I could definitely see why my sister was playing dress up. Nancy had the badass look down, from the tip of her army boots to the top of her head. The expression on Nancy’s face and the energy that wafted off her said that it wasn’t just a look for this woman. She was everything Zeezee wanted to be and so much more. Leaning a shoulder against the doorframe, the woman pointed her chin toward the van. “Who’s in your vehicle and can’t get out?”
I hooked my thumbs in my belt loops. “Someone who’s sensitive to iron.”
Nancy reached to her side and snapped the holster on a sheath at her belt. Her hand fisted around a wooden handle. “Why don’t you invite your friend out here, and we can have a little conversation.”
My wolf surged forward, pushing for control. “If anyone is going to have a conversation with your knife, Nancy, that would be me.”
“Chill,” Zeezee said, hopping down from the half-collapsed porch and directly between me and Necro-Nancy. “My sister’s boyfriend Mack is probably in the van. He’s fae. And, Scar, that’s not a knife she’s holding. It’s holy water. You have no fucking clue the week Nancy and I have had.”
I wheeled on my sister. “Yeah, I fucking do, Zee. I really do. I have been threatened, kidnapped, hunted, and beaten. Lance’s throat was slit. Mack is now exiled. Darrel had to kill someone needlessly, and it was all trying to clean up your fucking mess. Again. By the way, you’re evicted from Meadows, and you should be damn glad that’s not all I’m evicting you from.”
God, that felt good.
“Like hell I am,” Zee said, gesturing with her crossbow. “I’ve been protecting all of you. We’ve been demon hunting and almost dying all week so you can fucking cool your heels.”
“Wanna tell me about the party and the earrings?” I pointed at Nancy, who lifted her hand in an I’m-not-part-of-this gesture.
“See, this was why I didn’t bring you in, Scarlet.” Zeezee gestured. “You don’t always have to micromanage everything. I was handling this one.”
“Were you?” I crossed my arms over my chest and tapped my foot. “Were you handling everything, Zeezee? Because a fae hunter came this close to killing your mate last night while you were here fucking Nancy.” I held my fingers an inch apart. “You’re a dominant mated to a submissive. It’s your fucking job to see to his safety. But no, you leave that shit to everyone else.”
Zeezee paled. “What happened to Zane? Is he okay? I thought they were going to keep him in jail until tomorrow night. We’ve been running against the clock.”
“Well, they released him early. Turns out the humans at the party were mages.” I nodded over to Nancy. “I’m guessing you know something about this. Actually, no more information from me. Zeezee, I would believe that the moon really was made of cheese before I’d believe that you were looking out for anyone other than yourself. I’m glad you’re safe, but you should have come to me instead of putting everyone else at risk. Your recklessness and selfishness needlessly sparked a war that might wipe out the Six Rivers pack. We are going to have a conversation, but not while I’m so fucking angry at you,” I growled. “Go get in the van before I make a decision I might regret, like exiling you from this pack for the foreseeable future.”
“Scarlet,” she whined. “You don’t understand.”
Zeezee trailed off as my wolf surged to the forefront, filling me. I was seconds from changing, and my eyes cast a green glow on my sister’s features. She wisely snapped her mouth closed, dropped her gaze, and offered me her neck and crossbow.
When I took it, she trudged off toward the van with her head down.
Turning, I held up the complicated contraption toward Necro-Nancy. “I’m returning this to you in good faith.”
“Keep it.” Nancy hopped down her steps and strolled across the distance. “Trust me, Alpha Wolf, you’re going to need distance weapons. I have a feeling that you werewolves are more contact fighters.”
I handed the contraption off to Aaron beside me without looking over, and he quickly pulled a lever that let him pull out the light-wood arrows.
“Just so you know, Alpha,” Nancy said to me, but she was gazing at Jane. “Your sister Zeezee isn’t my type.”
I couldn’t help but notice that Jane had at some point tucked away her cell phone and given Nancy her full attention. Her cheeks had darkened a few shades, too.
Nancy turned fully to me. “Zeezee really was trying to handle this mess without involving you. She’s actually blocked my attempts to contact you, and the only explanation that I can guess for that is that she wanted to protect you.”
“Oh, I’m sure there’s some other explanation.”
I felt I needed to justify my reactions to this woman. My siste
r regularly caused problems with no expectation of ever having to clean them up. She just handed the consequences off to me.
“No offense, Nancy.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Our mom is a therapist, and she’s constantly psychoanalyzing Zeezee. And me. I really don't need it from anyone else. But yeah, I'll tell you flat out my sister was not thinking about the consequences of her actions. This might be the worst fix she's gotten herself into, but it is far from the first. It actually only beats out a lot of the things she's ended up making me clean up by a small fraction.”
“Okay, okay. I know better than to get involved with family dynamics. But I feel honor-bound to say one more thing. This situation isn’t Zeezee’s fault.” Nancy shook her head, making her ponytail bob. “Not whatsoever. If it was, she wouldn’t be alive or standing in my house.”
“So, holy water kills demons?” I asked, nodding to her belt. Her leather tool belt had far more than holy water. One glance down told me the woman was stocked with probably a hundred items strapped to her hips. I recognized a crucifix, but it was only one among a long line of what I was pretty sure were religious symbols carved out of various types of wood. She had bells and several bottles holstered near the front, making me think that these were her primary weapons.
Nancy chuckled, her laughter as low and raspy as her voice. “Insert subject-change here? All right, fine. No, holy water doesn’t kill demons, but it’s a sure-fire way to detect them. Are you completely positive that the fae in the van is what he says he is?”
“We know that the incubus can imitate people, so we have a password.” My wolf was reading Nancy as a non-threat and retreating, and even though I wasn’t sure that my wolf’s assessment was right, I found my posture relaxing in her presence.
She tilted her head back and forth. “That’s pretty effective, unless the incubus overhears the password.”
“All the breadcrumb trails in this case seem to lead to your house, Necro-Nancy. Not Mack.”
Filthy Fae: A Dirty Alphas Novel (Heartland Forest Book 2) Page 18