The Mating Challenge

by Bonnie Vanak

  She would die at the hands of the Silver Wizard.

  Or die before he found her.

  Reaching the fire pit, she rested upon one of the rocks ringing the pit. The few times she’d celebrated pack meetings had been here, in the night, the bonfire crackling, sparks spitting upward toward the sky.

  Most nights she spent locked in her apartment, feeling so lonely she’d cry herself to sleep. But she had no right to complain. Everything Nia, Mandy, Roxanne and the elders did, they did to protect her.

  She shifted into wolf and paced around the pond, sniffing the ground for intruders. Niki scented a powerful alpha scent and her wolf knew it was Aiden. The male had not wasted time marking his territory.

  Shifting back into Skin, Niki returned to the fire pit and sat, hugging her knees and staring at the starlit sky.

  This is my favorite place. And I had to come here one last time, one last visit.

  Even now she grew weaker. She knew there was little time left. But only one vial existed. Who would be cured? Aiden, the powerful alpha and her sister’s mate?

  Rickie, the helpless, smiling teenager?

  Or the hated Carl?

  I can’t decide who lives or dies. Gods, I wish Dad had let me die all those years ago and this never would have happened! He never would have opened that chest.

  She started to stand to return to her apartment, when the hairs rose on her nape and a chill raced through her body.

  A white wolf, large as a small pony, emerged from the forest. A stranger. Not a member of Aiden’s pack or hers. This wolf carried the sharp scent of cold snow, and the tangy smell of cider and burning pine. Pleasing, like a cozy fire during an icy winter’s night. But fear filled her, and her heart began to pound.

  The wolf approached, his head lifted. He loped over to the rock where she’d sat and lifted his leg. A male.

  Arrogant, covering Aiden’s scent with his own. Then the white wolf paced toward her and a beam of moonlight caressed his thick fur.

  Not white.

  Silver.

  Legend said only one Lupine had that color fur. The Silver Wizard.

  Niki’s jaw dropped. Her pulse beat frantically and panic clogged her throat. She turned to run. But her legs weren’t working as well as they had days ago, before she’d done the one thing she knew would weaken her.

  She stumbled in the dark, fear a sharp razor in her mouth, and tripped over a rock. White-hot pain shot up her leg. She bit back a terrified scream.

  Wolves hunted the weak and the sick…

  Unable to stand because of her sprained ankle, she tried to crawl away. He might destroy her, as the prophecy foretold, but she wouldn’t surrender without a fight. Adrenaline flooded her body, loaning her a burst of strength.

  The wolf silently loped toward her. Lightning flashed, filling the glen with an eerie glow, and the wolf turned into a tall, dark-haired man clad in black.

  Moonlight touched his face. He was handsome, with chiseled features and eyes dark as the night. He bent down next to her and she wanted to crawl away from him, from the smoldering sensuality whirling about him, but could not.

  He placed a hand on her throbbing leg and she bit her lip from the pain. Suddenly the pain fled. Her heart resumed its normal rhythm.

  Niki stared up at him wordlessly, her terror easing a little now that her leg was healed. Perhaps he’d healed her to let her run, and then he’d give chase.

  Wolves loved the chase.

  She had no strength to crawl, let alone run. Exhaustion claimed her. The adrenaline rush left, leaving her cold and shivering.

  Tristan, the Silver Wizard. Ruler of Lupines. Judge of Others. The grim reaper of her nightmares from the time her father told her that she must remain hidden to stay safe, to never let anyone know she was alive, Nikita the eldest twin, the one destined for the wizard. For Tristan would take her away to the afterworld, and she would perish.

  He didn’t look like the grim reaper her father had told her about, she thought in a drowsy haze of confusion. Niki rubbed her eyes. She could barely summon the strength to move.

  “I’m not going to hurt you,” he murmured. “Steady now.”

  Tristan picked her up into his arms. She had no strength to fight him. If he wanted to kill her now, he could easily snap her neck.

  Didn’t matter. She was dying anyhow, using her own body as a lab experiment to find a cure for the parvolupus disease. Nothing could save her.

  He carried her easily, walking up the path. She felt as if she were floating, flying, and then managed the strength to look down.

  They were flying. He floated through the air like a magick carpet from the fairy tales she’d adored as a child.

  Tristan reached her basement apartment, nodded and the door opened. More efficient than a key.

  He placed her on the bed, pulled off her shoes and jeans, and then tucked her beneath the covers. The Silver Wizard bent his head, his long, dark hair brushing her cheeks.

  He kissed her forehead. “Rest now, Niki.”

  Compelled by the command in his voice, she shut her eyes. As she drifted off to sleep, she heard him say, “Later, I will return to make you my own.”

  Chapter 16

  All his life, Aiden had struggled to be the perfect alpha. The perfect leader. Never letting anyone or anything get in his way. He’d fought to the death to protect his pack, waited patiently to mate with the woman he desired most, and most of all, never let the legacy of his old man ruin his future.

  He would never grow weak like his father, and fall in love and allow love to ruin him.

  Too late.

  Now he was growing sicker by the hour, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.

  In the king-sized bed in Nia’s cabin, he lay naked upon the sheets. Sweat coated the bed, and he tossed and turned.

  The pain was pincer-like, gripping his muscles with squeezing agony. He’d never been sick, and now he could barely move.

  Big tough alpha, he thought with dim humor. Look at you now.

  He’d been too busy trying to take care of things, too busy with his people, and with getting Nikita/Nia into his bed and his life, to think about the impossible.

  Dying. And there was nothing he could do about it.

  Nia sat by his side, stroking his forehead with a cool, wet cloth. Aiden grabbed her hand.

  “Promise me,” he said in a thick voice. “Promise me…you and Darius…care for my pack.”

  “Our pack,” she said softly, kissing his hand. “Don’t wuss out on me, Mitchell. You’re not escaping me. Nothing will take you away from me, get it?”

  Her voice quivered. “Nothing. Let’s get you well. You’re going to come out of this. You will. Fight it, Mitchell. I thought you were a big, tough alpha.”

  “Not so tough.” He drew in a breath and winced at the pressure in his chest.

  She leaned over him, her expression fierce. His mate. His equal. He’d loved her, but resisted it. Couldn’t tell her, give her power over him. But he had nothing to lose now. He was close to death.

  “Go away,” he told her.

  He didn’t want her to see him like this, didn’t want her to witness his weakness. Nia, the Lupine who had caused him to fall ill.

  She blinked furiously. “I’m not letting you die. Not you.”

  After flinging the damp washcloth onto the floor, she raced away. Aiden closed his eyes, his guts churning, feeling as if something ate him from the inside out.

  He drifted into unconsciousness for a while, dreaming about his old man taunting him. “You’re weak, Aiden. Too weak to rule!”

  Never fall in love, his father had warned. Love will make you weak.

  He had fallen for Nia, and now look at him. Dying.

  Hearing a drawer open and close, he struggled to open his gluey eyelids. And then he saw Nia standing by the bed.

  Tears shimmered in her blue eyes. “Promise me one thing, Mitchell. If something happens to me and you live, promise me you’ll care
for my sister, and my people, like I would. Protect them as I would.”

  She was not dying. It made no sense. “I promise,” he said.

  Then he saw what she held. The crystal containing the tears of the dragon.

  “No,” he managed to say.

  Nia blinked furiously. “Yes. It’s the only way.”

  Aiden roused every bit of his strength and struggled to sit up. “You’ll strip…all your powers. You…can’t live as Lupine. Have to leave the pack. You…could die.”

  “Then let me take the chance because I can’t bear to live if you die. I brought you into this mess. I must get you out of it.”

  Her eyes wild, she held up the crystal. Nia ripped open her shirt, exposing her bare breast. She pressed the tip of the crystal’s long end against her heart. The crystal began to glow an eerie white.

  She screamed and staggered back. Her screams pierced his ears and he moaned, partly from the pain and partly from her agony.

  Then she held up the glowing crystal. Skin pale, her shoulders slumped as if she were weary, Nia approached the bed.

  “Cure, save…for Rickie. Protect the young.”

  “You’re not dying on me, Mitchell. Not you.”

  With all his strength, he shook his head. “No.” Aiden labored to breathe past the elephant sitting on his chest. “Young…deserves to live. Protect pack…”

  Nia’s expression grew stubborn. “No. No more pack. Our whole lives have been consumed by pack. You’re always putting your people first, my needs first as well. But not anymore. Today, you come first, you big, stubborn wolf.”

  He tried to move away, but she moved swiftly, his mate, and seized his jaw. Nia forced his mouth to open and popped the crystal inside. He felt it dissolve on his tongue. It tasted as bitter as vinegar and sweet as honey. No, no, no. Damnit, his life wasn’t worth this.

  Holding his mouth shut with one hand, Nia wiped away a tear.

  “Please live,” she begged. “This is all my fault that you’re dying. Don’t leave me like my father and brothers did, like all the males I loved did. I couldn’t bear it. I love you, Mitchell. I was too proud and stubborn to admit it all these years.”

  Then she tickled his throat, forcing him to swallow. The tears of the dragon burned his throat like the bite of whiskey.

  “Live, Mitchell. Please live,” she whispered, crying. “I love you.”

  He lifted a hand to her cheek, touched her tears. “Love…you…mate.”

  Groaning, Aiden fell back among the pillows, feeling his strength leave him.

  Damn stubborn female, stubborn as himself.

  Closing his eyes, he surrendered to the grayish void.

  Her wolf had to live. Even if she must die.

  Utterly drained, Nia sat in the armchair near the bed. Xavier had not lied when he said the crystal would drain all a Lupine’s magick.

  She reached deep inside herself, tried to summon her wolf and met with silence. Her wolf, the beast who had given her strength, who had enabled her to lead the pack after her father died, was gone.

  Tears trickled down her cheeks. She wiped them away with a shaky hand. And now what? She’d have to leave, forge a new life for herself. A Lupine without magick was doomed, like the Crystal Wizard had said. The pack would never allow her to live among them, either her pack or Aiden’s.

  And what about Niki and her people?

  Aiden would care for them. He would protect her twin as fiercely as he’d protected his own. He promised.

  All that mattered was for Aiden to live.

  In all the years the disease had plagued them, she’d never seen it progress so quickly in a male. Aiden’s superior strength and alpha traits had triggered it to overtake him.

  Making the strong male weak.

  Her man still breathed. He slept, his color still pale as milk.

  On the nightstand, his cell kept going off. Summoning all her strength, she went to the nightstand, picked up the phone and marched into the bathroom, then dropped it into the toilet.

  No one was disturbing them. All their time together had been for pack, all about pack. And now he hovered on that frail line between life and death.

  If it was life, then she needed to be here for him.

  If he died, she would be here as well.

  Nia closed her eyes, willing Aiden to live. Please, she thought. Don’t leave me.

  An hour later, she sensed a change and stirred. Nia opened her eyes, cursing the fact that she’d fallen asleep. Gods, she was so damn weak now.

  And saw Aiden sitting up in bed, the covers pulled to his waist. His thick hair was rumpled and matted with sweat, his eyes still glazed, but he breathed normally.

  Joy filled her. She struggled to stand, then went to his side, touching his forehead. No fever.

  Nia wrapped her arms around him. He stroked her hair as she sobbed in his arms. Finally she drew back, wiping her face with the corner of the sheet.

  “Hey there,” he said softly. “Don’t cry, Blakemore.”

  “I’m no wuss, Mitchell. Cry over you? Those aren’t tears. You’re seeing things.” She kissed him, hard.

  “How do you feel?” she asked, as they parted.

  “I feel fine. Need a shower.” He frowned, looking at the covers. “Hard to remember what happened. I know I was sick, but how did I get better? All I remember is some nasty shit in my mouth and a burning taste down my throat.”

  Nia said nothing.

  His nostrils flared and his dark eyes widened. “The tears of the dragon.”

  “It’s okay,” she soothed. “You’re safe now. You will live.”

  Aiden seized her hands. He pressed his cheek against them. “Nia, Nia, why? Your magick, your powers…”

  He gave her a hopeful look. She shook her head.

  “Gone.”

  Emotion clogged her throat as he stared at her. Aiden framed her face with his big, rough hands. “My beautiful Nia, why did you do this for me?”

  She stroked a finger over the thick stubble on his handsome face. “Because I love you, Mitchell. I’ve always loved you. And your life is worth more than my wolf. I can live without my wolf and my powers. I can’t live with knowing you’re gone forever.”

  He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight. “We’ll find a way to make it work,” he said, his voice thick. “We will. After we get a cure for this godsdamn disease, you and I will make it work.”

  Pulling away, he said in a gruff voice, “I need out of this damn bed. I’ve been slacking long enough.”

  She slid off the bed and nearly collapsed. Aiden cursed and leapt off the mattress. He helped her to stand upright.

  “Guess I’m really weak without my wolf.” She gave a wan smile.

  Picking her up into his arms, he carried her to the armchair. “Stay here and rest. I’m taking a shower and then we’ll go see your twin. She’s a biologist. Maybe she has some herbs that will restore your strength.”

  After he’d showered, Aiden emerged from the bathroom, clad in a towel. She stared at him, her joy turning into desire. “How do you feel, Mitchell?”

  “Strong. Very strong.” He enfolded her into his arms and stared down at her. “I don’t remember a lot. But I do remember this. I told you how I feel about you.”

  “Uh huh. Maybe you should tell me again.” She squeezed his taut ass and then let him go.

  As she watched him dress, Nia sighed. “I know Niki. If anyone can help me, she can. She’s always experimenting on herbs. That’s why she got so sick when we were fifteen. She went into the forest and picked berries she thought were medicinal. They were to Skins, but toxic to Lupines. And that’s how she almost died.”

  “She’ll find a cure.” Aiden’s confidence in her twin fed her hope. “And when she does, Rickie will be saved.”

  “And Carl.”

  “And Carl,” he agreed. “I want that son of a bitch to get better, so I can punch his face.”

  “Such a peaceful guy you are,” she murmured.
/>   They went down the back steps, to the basement apartment’s back door.

  Niki must know. They had a cure, and her twin had saved Aiden’s life.

  As she went to knock on the door, she noticed it was slightly ajar. Dread raced down her spine. Aiden looked at her and opened the door.

  “Niki,” he called out softly. “Niki?”

  The room was dark, and smelled musty, of dampness and something else unpleasant.

  She recognized the smell and fresh fear made her heart skid.

  And then she noticed the figure lying prone on the carpet, so still.

  So very still.

  Chapter 17

  Nia rushed over to her twin, praying she wasn’t too late. She reached Niki and her senses screamed denial as Aiden snapped on a light.

  Niki opened her eyes, bright with fever. “Thought I’d get this…over with…before you found me. Want to die…alone.”

  Oh gods, oh gods. Nia looked at Aiden. “Help her!”

  As Aiden lifted Niki into his strong arms, Niki lifted an arm. “Found cure. In…lab.”

  Nia rushed into the lab as Aiden carried her twin into the bedroom.

  Her heart pounded hard as she scanned the room, the counter, the vials of crimson fluid neatly labeled, and the syringes lined up in a row. Two rabbits in wire cages hopped around, frisky and healthy.

  A red Biohazard box sat on the counter as well, along with a microscope.

  Nia opened the refrigerator and scanned it. Dozens of vials of fluid, all labeled. None labeled “antidote.” Maybe her sister had hidden it.

  She picked up another vial and her blood ran cold.

  Edmond Blakemore. She set it down, carefully, noting there were several containers. And others, with their brother’s’ names. Several of them. A good portion of all the males who had died from the disease.

  Nia slammed the door shut and sagged against it. “What have you done, Niki? What have you done?”

  She had never bothered intruding into Niki’s private lab, wanting her twin to have privacy for her work.