“Sounds good to me,” Roel said as he stood. There was mascara streaked down the girl’s face as she speed-walked from the hall and went straight for the garage, without a goodbye or even a middle finger in the air. Roel lifted his eyebrows. “Phoenix is waiting for you downstairs after you get dressed. Your welcome is wearing thin. I can only take up for you so much, before I’m the one who has to take the heat for your fuck-ups. That was crossing a line. We don’t treat women like whores down here, even if they are whores. Bond with Mena and then take your ass home.”
Ace gritted his teeth. “You do realize you’re speaking to an Alpha, right? You’d better act—”
“You’re not my Alpha.”
“I will be after the bond.”
“Your say will never trump Mena’s, Ace, no matter what you become to her after this. Eat your breakfast and find Phoenix. You are doing the bond today and you are leaving today.”
Roel followed Lea out of the kitchen and slammed the door to the garage behind him.
Ace stared at the door in silence.
“That was a dick thing to do—” Brad started.
“Shut up,” Ace growled, and then shot to his feet and stomped to the bedroom.
Phoenix
The room was too small. Even with twenty feet of distance between him and Ace, it was still not far enough away from the guy to suit him.
Brad was present, but that didn’t comfort him in the slightest if, for some reason, the conversation took a left turn toward Weareallscrewedville. Ace’s lion shifters stood dutifully at his back, ready for anything.
The Alpha still hadn’t said he would do it. He’d only told them he would meet her. And by the look on his face, someone had pissed him off before he came downstairs. Phoenix would bet a lot of money it had been Roel, even after he’d told him to keep his trap shut about the human Ace brought home. Phoenix just needed things to go smoothly until they got Mena back, and then the guy would leave. That was the plan, anyway.
“Tell me a little about my new sweetie,” Ace said, the cocky grin from the night before erasing the scowl.
“Mena doesn’t belong to—”
Ace chuckled. “I know you’re banging her, vampire. I’m not here to take your girl.”
“Mena is not only Phoenix’s girl,” Rhodes said as he walked into the room, followed by Roel, Jaxon, Lea, Heather, Tracy and Heath.
Phoenix damn near gave a sigh of relief as the odds were evened.
“This the guy?” Rhodes said, irritation thick in his voice.
Ace grinned up at Alex from his seat. “She’s into threesomes? I may change my mind about keeping her then.” Rhodes’ face contorted into a mask of disgust before he schooled himself.
Phoenix gestured to the empty couch, sofa and chairs between him and Ace before the cop bit off more than he could chew. “Please, let’s have a seat and discuss this like mature adults. Shall we?”
Phoenix’s group sat. Ace’s pride remained standing.
Rhodes was leaning forward, his elbows propped on his knees and his head in his hands. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea for him to be here; he looked like he was about ready to snap. Phoenix supposed he still had it in his head that he could do this without the help of anyone else outside their circle.
Ace let his eyes roam the new faces, his expression free of anxiety. When he got to Rhodes, his eyes narrowed as he studied the man. “Who are you? I thought I’d heard all the rumors, but you’ve managed to slip through the gossip train. Are you lycanthrope?”
Rhodes lifted his head. “I was bitten two weeks ago.”
“The moonrising wolf was in an intimate relationship with Alex while Mena and I were together,” Phoenix said.
Ace’s eyebrows shot into his hairline as he did a little back and forth action with his head. “Wait,” he said, “you were okay with that?”
“The wolf was in control. I wasn’t letting her go,” Phoenix said.
“And neither was I,” Alex said.
“What was your name again? Adam?” Ace said.
“Alex Rhodes.”
Ace scrunched up his face. “You named your wolf that?”
Alex raised an eyebrow. “No. I named my wolf Peanut. Alex is my name.”
The room fell silent for a moment, and then Ace gave a short chuckle as he stared at him, waiting. “You’re joking, right?”
“What’s wrong with my name?” Alex said, defensively.
“Rhodes,” Roel said. “Please tell me you’re fucking playing about your wolf’s name being Peanut.”
“I only had one dog when I was a kid. I loved that dog. What’s wrong with Peanut?”
Roel groaned. “Oh, God, he’s serious.”
“Dude,” Brad said, “Peanut is okay for a beagle, not a wolf!”
The burst of laughter coming from Ace startled everyone. “This is the best day ever!”
Alex’s face began to turn red in embarrassment and anger. “Why does it even matter?”
Tears were rolling down Ace’s face as he threw himself back against the chair, laughter taking over his body. “It—it’s your—” He laughed even harder.
“I’m really sorry, Rhodes. I should have told you, but I figured you would pick a manly name. I wasn’t thinking.”
“What?” Alex said in disbelief.
Phoenix removed the hand covering his eyes and looked at Rhodes. “They all go by their wolves’ names, Rhodes. You will be known as Peanut to the pack now.”
Alex reached at the small of his back with two hands, and then swiftly pointed two of Phoenix’s handguns at Ace and Roel.
Each one of Ace’s pride members pulled a gun out and pointed it directly at Alex.
Fuck! Phoenix thought.
Roel’s hands flew up. “Whoa, Rhodes! All this because I didn’t tell you—”
“Shut up!” Alex shouted.
The room fell silent again, and Ace lost his smile as he stood from his chair.
“What the hell are you doing, Rhodes?” Phoenix said.
“You invited me here to kill me?” Ace bellowed. “What is the meaning of this?”
“Cop,” Heath said, “do you have a death wish?”
Brad took a step toward Alex, and Alex quickly aimed the gun he had pointed at Roel at Brad. “Don’t move! If anyone bonds with Mena, it will be me.”
Phoenix huffed as his eyes closed. “You can’t challenge Ace, Rhodes. He’s a lion. Only another lion can challenge him and become Alpha if they win, not a shifter of another species. You can only challenge Alpha werewolves.”
“What?” Alex said.
Roel shook his head. “Put the guns down, Cop. Phoenix is right.”
Alex hesitated a moment, and then his hands fell to his sides as he shook his head. “I can’t let her go.”
“You have to,” Brad said. “It’s the only way to save everyone. The girl you love doesn’t exist anymore, dude.”
“You got some balls, man,” Ace snapped. “You’re lucky I don’t kill you for pulling some shit like that on me.”
“I thought—” Alex started.
Ace glared at him. “I know damn well what you thought.” He turned to look at the red-haired woman beside him, then nodded for his pride to lower their weapons. “Let’s get this bonding over with so we can get the hell out of here,” he said, and then started for the door, bumping Alex’s shoulder roughly with his as he went by him.
Chapter 55
Ace
Stopping outside the door of Phoenix’s chamber, he tried to calm down, but the longer he thought about what had almost happened, the more he wanted to kill that fucking wolf.
Deciding that bonding with his Alpha and taking her away from him for good would be a worse punishment than killing the poor bastard, Ace met the master vampire’s eyes when he walked out into the corridor. “Lead the way. I’ll be gone before nightfall.”
“I apologize—” Phoenix started, but Ace held up his hand to stop him.
“Where is she?”
Phoenix nodded once, and then led the way down the long hallway. Ace’s pride fell into step behind him, and the others in Mena’s pack and the other vampire followed after them.
Phoenix stopped before a door then turned to look at Ace before opening it. “How are you going to do this?”
Ace shrugged. “I’ve never bonded with anyone. The Alpha in me will know what to do once I get near her.”
“Can we watch?” Heath said.
Ace shrugged again, and then reached out for the door handle. “Do what you want, just don’t try to stop anything from happening once I get in there with her. It may get rough. I’ll have to mind-rape her in order for my soul to connect with hers. I’m guessing she won’t consent to this on her own. If Mena has any control over her at all, maybe she can hold her back until I get in.”
Ace pushed his way into the holding room, and instantly felt the power wash over him from the other Alpha. He immediately felt drawn to her, nothing he had ever experienced before with any other Alphas.
He walked slowly toward the cell holding her, his amber eyes locking on a pair of silver wolf eyes. She bared her teeth and let out a low growl. He could still refuse to do this; nobody was forcing him to save her. He could kill her instead. Of course, he wouldn’t be able to take over her pack. The remaining survivors would have to fight over the position of Alpha, since two vampires and three of her pack would take their last breath the same time she did. That was something he’d found out all on his own before coming here, but after that stunt Peanut had just tried to pull, he was almost determined to make sure they all died.
He contemplated his options as he ripped off his sneakers and pulled the t-shirt over his head. Taking in a deep breath and letting it out in a rush, he unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans then pushed them to his ankles.
Stepping out of the denim, he turned and gave a nod toward the cage door. “Let’s do this.”
Phoenix pushed the silver key in the lock and turned it. He met the wolf’s eyes, and whispered, “Come back to me, Mena.” He pulled the door open, and the wolf lunged for the opening, but Ace was quick to shift, and his lion form knocked her back inside, rolling over the cement flooring with her until they reached the other side and the door was secure again.
Her claws and teeth sank into his flesh, but the adrenaline pumping through his system blocked any pain he may have felt otherwise. He knocked her off him and they began to circle each other.
As if his soul knew the reason he was here, a heavy pressure settled in the center of his chest, and then began to burn unnaturally.
“Let me in, bitch! This shit’s starting to hurt.”
She jumped on him, knocking him off balance, but his paws clung to her back and he rolled them across the floor again, stopping with her on the bottom. His jowls parted and his teeth clamped down on her throat, causing her to howl in pain.
Ace vaguely heard screams from the others, but he knew he had to keep his full attention on her; getting distracted could cost him his life, and that wasn’t something he was willing to give up for anything or anyone.
She squirmed under him, still trying to fight him off, but he could tell she was growing weaker. His jaw clamped down tighter, and he finally forced his way into her mind. The bonding had started. His soul had found hers. He was in.
Images of Mena’s past flashed through his mind so fast that he couldn’t tell when one ended and another started, but he saw them all, every memory, all the heartache and happiness the human had endured in her short life, and he knew that she was experiencing the same from him.
The feeling was surreal and unexplainable, but it felt right; he felt her power and his collide and weld together, infusing and tangling until it was one solid unbreakable force. As if two worlds collided, wolf and lion, their auras joined, co-mingled, until they blended together to form one entity.
Ace patiently waited for the wolf’s thoughts and memories to come to him, and after they did, he smiled to himself when he discovered her name.
He wasn’t prepared for what happened next, though. Nothing could have ever prepared him for it, not even if someone had told him it was going to happen.
Feelings and emotions that he had never known or felt before swept through him. A foreignness coursed through his veins, but it was welcome, exotic almost. The femininity of the emotions leant a softness to their edges, even in their rawness. He hated them and clung to their power over him at the same time. Nothing had ever been worse or better. It was like night and day, fire and ice, wind and water.
It was Ace and Andromeda. Two parts to a whole, something he had no idea he needed, until now. Why had he never realized he needed this?
For the first time in his existence, he finally found someone he was willing to give up his life for. She was his… his Andromeda.
When he felt the claws in his back retract, he began to shift back to his human form. As he opened his eyes, beautiful pale-green ones stared back at him.
“Andromeda,” he whispered. “I am yours.”
She smiled weakly. His heart melted.
She threw her head back and screamed at the top of her lungs, “Andromeda! My wolf’s name is Andromeda!”
“Mena!” the asshole who’d tried to assassinate him earlier shouted, and a growl vibrated out of Ace’s throat as his head shot around to glare at the guy. If Peanut thought he still had any chance with Andra, Ace was definitely up for the challenge now.
“Get Rhodes out of here!” Phoenix said.
“No—” Alex started, but Roel got in his face and backed him against a wall as he whispered something so low even Ace couldn’t make it out, but he guessed it was good advice, because Peanut stopped resisting, and then stormed out of the room without another word.
“Mena?” Phoenix said in a quiet voice.
“I can’t talk to anybody right now, Ace,” Andra said through his thoughts. “Please, just get me out of here. Tell them I will talk to them after I have rested. I am so tired.”
Ace got to his feet, then picked her up in his arms and walked to the cage door.
Phoenix unlocked the door and opened it for him. He met the vampire’s gaze as Andra turned her face into his chest, hiding her eyes from their company. “She said she will talk to everyone after she has rested. We will be in my room.”
With that, he walked out of the cage and carried her upstairs.
Chapter 56
Phoenix
There could have been worse things to wake up to than a ninety-pound Rhodesian Ridgeback licking your face, Phoenix thought as he pushed Chaos away with a hand, and then groaned as he sat up and wiped the sleep from his eyes with his knuckles.
“How did you get in here?” he asked the dog.
“Oh, he came in with me.”
Phoenix’s head whipped around to see that Ace had pulled a chair up beside the bed, and he was just, well, he was just sitting there.
“What time is it?”
“Daytime.”
Phoenix huffed.
“I can’t, for the life of me, think why he likes you so much, Andromeda either, but that’s why I’m in here, in case you were wondering. I’m trying to figure out what she sees in you. It may be because you smell like cotton candy. It would explain why Chaos is always licking you; he likes cotton candy.”
Phoenix looked down at the dog licking his arm and jerked it away with a growl. “I don’t smell like cotton candy,” he snapped. “Stop licking me!” he shouted at the dog, but it didn’t seem to faze him much. Chaos just stretched his paws out in front of him and laid his head down.
“Yeah, ya do,” Ace said.
“How is Mena?”
“Her name is Andromeda, and she’s sleeping.”
“Mena doesn’t have to go by her wolf name.”
“She is an Alpha, Phoenix. She kinda does.”
Blowing out a breath, he snatched his robe from the foot of the bed with the tips of his fingers and put it on before tossing back the comforter. “Do y
ou have an actual reason for being in here, besides watching me sleep?”
“I don’t like being sad,” Ace said simply.
Phoenix stared at him for a long moment, waiting for something else, an explanation of why he was sharing this piece of private information with him, maybe. Nothing came. “We’re not hugging.”
Ace shook his head, but his usual confident grin was missing. Was this guy serious? “I don’t want a hug from you. I only have two emotions: happy and pissed off. The bond forces me to feel everything Andromeda is feeling, emotion wise. She cried herself to sleep a little over an hour ago. It was a pretty rough night for both of us,” he said as he studied his linked fingers.
“That wouldn’t have been a problem if you had let her come to me,” Phoenix said through a clenched jaw.
“I wasn’t stopping her, though I doubt I could have actually let her walk out of the room, knowing she was going to meet you in your bed.”
“Are you saying she didn’t want to see me?”
“No, she absolutely did, but leaving me was harder for her.”
Phoenix’s brow furrowed. “I don’t understand.”
Ace shook his head. “I don’t know how to explain it. We need each other. Just being awake and down here while she is upstairs…” Ace rubbed both hands over his face. “It makes me anxious to be away from her.”
“You love her,” Phoenix stated.
“No. It’s deeper than that. I can read her thoughts and feel her emotions, and she can do the same with me. I have no secrets anymore. She knows them all, and I’m okay with that. I would have never said that before the bonding ritual, about anyone… ever. I don’t regret bonding with her. Even questioning that makes me ill to my stomach. But if I’d known how powerful this thing was, I never would have agreed to do it. I thought I would just be able to bond with her, form an alliance and go back home with seventy-eight new pack members added to my roster. Not to mention your clan would be on my side from now on. I honestly didn’t see why so many Alphas passed up the opportunity… until I felt it for myself. This thing is strong, Phoenix. It’s not like your nexus spell. This is permanent. It’s inviolable.”
Midnight Moonrising Page 34