by Leela Ash
Zak paused in his licking to look up at her, “My Queen?”
Nabradia shoved his head away, “You heard me.”
She flipped her robe back into place and glared at the line of men standing a respectful distance away looking uncomfortable.
“The bunch of you are useless,” she told them. “You haven’t been able to discover anything.”
“They have been trying to find out about the crystal that was removed from the Tiara,” Henry Xanthier spat. “They’ve been playing their part while you’ve been over here getting one orgasm after another from our lackey here.”
Nabradia was silent, staring at him. She flicked Zak a fierce look, and he paled with gratifying speed. Ever since she had caught him in the throes with Henry’s mate, and enticed him into sucking her pussy nectar, he’d become her puppet. The men were frustrated because they couldn’t understand why. She was happy, one disapproving glance from her and he fell in line at once.
“Hey, do as she says,” Zak ordered, rounding on Henry.
The other man gave Zak a disgusted glance, “Her pussy juice must be mind-altering. You’ve become a fool ever since you started playing lap dog to the witch. You don’t even get to fuck her. You just suck her all day and then fuck your own fist!”
Before Zak could respond, Henry started to choke. His hands flew to his throat, his eyes widening into twin pools of horror as he looked up at Nabradia.
She was seating upright in her chair, a half-smile twisting her lips as she stared straight at him.
“In five seconds, you could be dead. But I’ll drag it out just for fun,” she whispered loud enough for everyone in the room to hear her.
The eerie silence in the room could have magnified an ant’s sneeze a thousand times over.
Then it was broken by a sob as a woman dashed forward to fall on her knees in front of Nabradia, “Please my queen. He spoke out of turn. Please forgive him. Please, I’ll do anything you want.”
Nabradia sneered at the woman. She was the exact same woman she’d caught cheating on Henry with the Tribe leader Zak. And now, she was suddenly loyal?
Santura cast a quick glance over her shoulders. Henry was down on his knees still choking. His eyes were almost falling from their sockets as he clawed at his throat. Santura hastily rushed towards Nabradia.
The witch grinned at her, “You can save him by telling him the truth about you and Zak, Santura. Or do you prefer to show him? Why don’t you let Zak fuck you for all of us to see so Henry can be sure Zak’s still a man. And my dear, you have my permission to enjoy it.”
Santura paled. She knew what the witch was asking. She was giving her a roundabout way of freeing herself from Henry’s clutches and becoming Zak’s. She was Henry’s mate it was true, but she had never loved him. He had just taken it for granted that she was his mate for life because they had fucked once.
But she was a faerie, faeries weren’t like other shifters. They fell in and out of love with their mates. And now she had fallen in love with Zak. If he fucked her now before all these people, Henry’s pride would demand that he let her go and she would become Zak’s. She loved him so and it was that very love for him that had kept her with Henry. She was afraid to cause a war between the two most powerful men in the Archstone Tribe.
She looked up at Nabradia and a silent message passed between the two women. Santura’s eyes were shining with gratitude as she positioned her ass for her lover.
Zak rammed into her with one sure thrust and she moaned and wriggled her ass a bit. Nabradia threw back her head, laughing and laughing and laughing.
Her gaze met Henry’s and she released him from the curse. He rushed to his feet, staring in dismay at the woman he loved being fucked hard by another man in front of him and every single member of the Archstone Tribe.
Worse, Santura seemed to be enjoying every thrust of Zak’s penis into her tight, wet pussy. She kept wriggling her behind and making such a ruckus. Hell, she was almost clawing out the very tiles in her excitement.
Henry decided that he wouldn’t think about why it hurt so much that Santura had never moaned so loud in his own arms. Each cry of pleasure that escaped her throat was like a thousand whips against his back.
Hatred so raw it was an acid swept through him as he glared at the Witch Queen who had somehow usurped power in their Tribe. This was all her fault.
If it was the last thing he did, he vowed silently, he would kill Nabradia and he would castrate that Zak fellow!
Hours later, Henry was still seething. He hadn’t been able to look at Santura after she had orgasmed three times in Zak’s arms. He’d returned to their home and carefully packed up all her clothes and deposited them on the porch. She’d returned and without bothering to say a word to him, she’d grabbed the clothes and sashayed away.
Henry had stared after her with incredulity, as she sailed into Zak’s home, her luggage in tow, for all the world as though she belonged there.
If he didn’t know better, he would think those two had been intimate before. They had certainly seemed to know their way around each other’s bodies. What had Nabradia meant about the truth about Zak and Santura?
He was distracted by the restless shuffling of feet which reminded him of the seven men who had followed him home. They were part of the Archstone Watchers, but of the entire Pack, they were his most trusted men.
“Henry? We gotta do something about this witch fast,” one of the men grunted from beside the cold fireplace.
Henry was as hot-blooded as any shifter and had never needed a fireplace; it had been for Santura, because faeries were different. Now the flighty woman had gone off with someone else and left him looking like a fool.
“Yes, and Zak too,” Henry ground out.
His men exchanged glances. “He’s our leader,” one of them ventured.
“Not anymore. He signed a damn treaty with that witch without consulting us,” Henry spat.
“And he fucked Santura for all to see,” someone added unwisely.
The silence could have frozen hell. Then someone else ventured into the breach, “We have to find a way to break that damn treaty.”
“Zak signed it in blood with that witch. The only people she’s scared of are the Weirna shifters and they would never help us.”
“They wouldn’t lift a finger,” another man agreed.
“And can you blame them? We’re their sworn enemies.”
“Beside they’re in cahoots with the witches. There’s a reason that conference is taking place in Salem, so close to Weirna,” someone else observed.
“Then we’re just gonna have to turn to the only other people she’s scared of,” Henry said, a dawning smile spreading across his morose features for the first time in several hours.
“Who?” all seven men chorused in unison.
“The Council of Seven. If anyone can help us break that treaty and set our Tribe free of her clutches, it’s them,” Henry stated staring off into the distance.
He would have to find a way to reach the Council of Seven and convince them to help him.
* * *
Nabradia listened intently as Luferia and Palma, her two most trusted assistants, reported to her what they had learned in the course of the week, from spying on the Damaged Pack boys.
“So, that old hag has a daughter and she’s married to one of the Damaged Boys?” Nabradia murmured sotto voce, smiling as she digested the new information.
It all made sense now. No wonder she had gotten the unmistakable feeling that Nana was hiding something the last time she had met the Council of Seven.
“Granddaughter,” Luferia corrected hesitantly.
Nabradia ignored her.
No wonder Nana had been hesitant to reveal that a blood imprint was the only thing that could have caused warts the last time Alcacia had kissed Bo and gotten the warts. She must have known Nabradia wouldn’t be able to rest until she’d tracked down the woman Bo had blood imprinted, in order to avenge her daughter’s w
arts.
No wonder Joshua and his boys had been able to get the crystals out of the Tiara of Oistrophe and rendered it useless as a result. She had wondered how they had been able to wield the level of magic necessary to accomplish such a feat. Now she had her answer. Nana was on their side and had even married off her granddaughter to the Pack.
“That wise old witch. I didn’t see her at their wedding,” Nabradia recalled.
“She might have come in disguise,” Palma ventured.
“You dumb bitch,” Nabradia scolded. She was so angry she grabbed Palma’s hair and twisted, yanking the witch’s head backwards. “All Nana needed was a crystal and she could witness the whole damn wedding from anywhere. Why would she need to come for the wedding in the flesh and tip us off? Tell me why I’m even explaining this to a witch right now!”
“You’re right,” Palma allowed, in a more subdued tone, gasping in pain as the hair was almost pulled right off her scalp.
“Of course I am,” Nabradia tossed out with a scathing glance, as she shoved Palma and sent her sprawling.
“What do you have to say for yourself?” she demanded glaring at Luferia.
Luferia licked her lips in fear. Nabradia was many things but no one could accuse her of being nice. “I — I um, I think we should do away with Nana.”
Nabradia grinned, “Oh Luferia, didn’t you know that old hag was as good as dead the moment I heard your news? I’ll kill her.”
Luferia and Palma applauded.
“Oh, you may applaud.” Nabradia chuckled. “Those Damaged boys aren’t going to be able to survive what I’m going to hit them with. By the time I’m through with them, well, they’ll truly be damaged...”
The words trailed off as she trilled with wicked laughter. Palma and Luferia joined in.
“Mother?” Alcacia gushed as she entered the room.
All three witches turned to look at her, “We must think of a way to get that Tiara working fast, Mother. We could steal the crystals or kidnap Nana and force the truth out of her.”
Nabradia’s head tilted to the side as she considered her beautiful daughter, the one thing she had truly done right in her life. Alcacia thought like her and saw things her way. If she couldn’t be queen for much longer, she thought, this girl would easily fill her shoes.
She stroked a caring hand down the girl’s cheek and said, “One thing is certain Alcacia, if they won’t let us bring Alabad to them, we’ll send them to Alabad.”
10.
“Tell me again why Derek assigned this horrible job to both of us,” Jack grumbled.
Bo chuckled, “I think he just wants to wipe off all traces of my honeymoon and snap me back to reality.”
“And I’m the designated driver for kicks,” Luke snickered, licking chocolate off his fingers in the backseat of the car.
Jack ignored both of them. If Luke was the designated driver that was news to him, especially since Luke had tossed the keys to him and sauntered into the backseat to eat his chocolate in stingy solitude. Everyone knew that Luke was determinedly stingy when it came to his sweet treats.
Jack was getting more and more impatient with Weirna with each passing day. Waiting for Nabradia’s next move was beginning to grate on his nerves. Waiting for Megan to come to her senses and admit she was as crazily attracted to him as he was to her was frustrating. Waiting for Jeanine to back off and stop chipping in a lecture was infuriating. And waiting for his silly brothers to stop giving him the arch look every time Megan was mentioned was flat out maddening.
His sojourn to Megan’s office had been the talk of the family for the entire week since he had stalked out of that office half-naked and angry. Jeanine, that little tale bearer, had told Bo who had told Derek who had told Kelly who had told Joshua, who had announced it at the dinner table!
Megan.
Just thinking about her made his blood rush. And it wasn’t just lust; something about her fascinated him more than any other woman ever had. Something about her brought out all his protective instincts and made him want to protect her and shelter her at all costs.
He had never felt like this about anyone before. He wanted to know what exactly fascinated him about her. Was it her sad, haunting eyes? He’d met zillions of damsels in distress before and felt nothing but sympathy. Was it her beauty? He’d had so many beautiful women in his bed over the years, he’d lost count. He wasn’t some randy teenager; he could control his hormones if he wanted. After his disastrous relationship with his ex, Ericka, he’d gone a whole year without a woman, and it had been his choice.
So, what was it about this particular woman, that a single week without seeing her face had turned him into the proverbial bear with a sore paw? All week he had been yelling and snapping at everyone in sight.
It had yielded nothing for him though. He missed Megan, he admitted to himself. But what was the point, he wondered, slamming a hand on the steering wheel in anger. Every time he got near her, she screamed when she saw his penis and ran in the other direction.
“Everything alright, man?” Luke demanded shooting him a worried glance.
Jack recollected himself, looking around to find Bo and Luke watching him with matching expressions of curiosity and concern.
“Uh, I’m fine. I just realized I, uh, missed a turn,” he improvised.
Bo frowned.
Luke frowned.
They didn’t believe him, Jack realized. He drove into a small street and parked next to the old Garrets’ house to prove his point. The house was one of the old, abandoned buildings Derek had asked Bo to assess. It wasn’t next on his list, but it would do to throw his brothers off the scent.
Weirna had a lot of old abandoned buildings and it seemed as though the witches had decided to make the most of it. Strange fires had been breaking out all across town all week, which was why Derek had assigned this new task to him and Bo. They were to get a sense of what buildings needed to be preserved and which should be demolished completely to make way for newer buildings.
“I think you should consider training firefighters,” Luke ventured. “We’ve got a lot of hands in Weirna. It would help us fight a fire better, what with the incessant breakouts.”
“Derek already discussed it with him,” Bo answered.
Jack shut off the ignition and got out without another word. He was angry, on edge, moody, and he had been all three for some days now. He wasn’t even sure why, but he felt very testy indeed.
The whole world seemed dark and grey and unfriendly. He didn’t notice the Mercedes Benz parked beneath a row of trees in the front yard and as he bounded up the stairs, it occurred to him that he missed Megan. He missed her quick grin, which she always caught half-way as though she wasn’t sure she should be smiling. He missed her light fragrance of jasmine and apples. He missed her eyes filled with so many secrets. He missed her.
The realization was so staggering that he froze suddenly, causing Luke who was right behind him to plow into him and Bo who was right behind Luke to attempt to dodge the lineup and miss his own step completely.
Bo fell backwards and Jack fell forwards, his upper body hitting the weak door with such force that it broke in two, leaving the upper part of the door hanging drunkenly from what was left of its hinges.
Luke stood in the middle of the tableau stupefied by all the falling. He started to say something when a blond streak erupted from the inside of the house, tripped over Jack’s prone body with a muffled oath and went sprawling — until Luke caught her mid-way.
She sputtered as she glared up at her savior with marked ingratitude, “What the hell are you three playing at? Someone, meaning me, could have been seriously hurt! Do you think that’s funny, looming in doorways and scaring people silly?”
Luke stared down dazzled into the prettiest face he had ever beheld on any red-blooded woman. His piercing golden eyes stared straight down at her from beneath the brim of his customary cowboy hat.
“Well sweetheart, all you had to do was show up and
two grown men landed flat at your feet,” Luke said tongue-in-cheek as he indicated Bo and Jack’s prone forms. “Nothing funny about that, just fascinating,” he added his eyes roving over her with bold appreciation that said he found her fascinating.
Megan glared up at Luke before jerking out of his grip and rounding on Jack, who was just rising to his feet, “Why did you have to break down the door? The realtor gave me a key and I’m sure she would have been more than happy to do the same for you if you had just asked!”
Jack turned to face her and both of them froze in shock.
A play of emotions chased across her features and Jack was almost certain he had suffered a small stroke himself.
Her name passed his lips in a helpless, soundless whisper as they stared at each other. Then Megan’s expression hardened and she demanded, “What’s all this, Jack?”
“Hey, Megan,” Bo called, coming up to her to offer her a light hug.
She smiled the moment she saw Bo and Jack couldn’t help feeling a tinge of jealousy at how genuinely happy she seemed to see Bo. She’d never smiled at him like that. Although Bo did say she had helped him to make Jeanine jealous and force her to see reason when he’d been dangling after Jeanine.
Perhaps some sort of friendship had formed under those circumstances.
“What are you doing here?” Megan asked with decidedly less venom as she beamed up at Bo, the smile so bright, it was almost blinding.
“Checking out old houses. The town is littered with them and we’re trying to see about renovating and getting new folks into town,” Bo prevaricated, giving her the surface version.
Well, he couldn’t very well tell her they were trying to spot possible fire hazards and demolish them before the witches got to them, now could he?
Megan grinned, “Wow, aren’t you a bunch of do-gooders. And the Mayor is on board with this?”
“He’d have to be crazy not to be. More people in his town means better economy and better public opinion of him,” Jack said.