Lifting the silver lid, she sniffed the warm toast and strawberry jam. It was her favorite, but she had no appetite. Tonight was the ceremony. Time had run out. Kate had not shown herself and everything for the fight tonight was in motion. She had lain in bed last night, listening to all the servants scurrying around and readying the guests to leave.
The ceremony would take place at a private amphitheater owned by the Council. Tempe had already said all the wolf royal families would be in attendance, even the ones without suitors in the fight. Each of the eleven seats would be filled ... well, ten.
The seat reserved for Demakis would be empty. Now that her father had passed, it should’ve belonged to his brother, Phillip, but the Council had declared the entire Demakis family to be traitors. The seat was up for grabs.
Thus this damnable claiming ceremony.
She was proud her father and his siblings had taken a stand against the chokehold the Council seemed to have on everyone. If given a choice, she’d be standing next to them instead of marrying into the nest of vipers. If worse came to worst, perhaps she could subvert from within.
It was hard to believe this was her last day of freedom. The last day she would ever have before she left Aaron. Tears welled in her eyes.
Angry, she wiped them away and stood. Her footfalls were silent as she walked to her bedroom door and threw it open. Disappointment pierced her heart like daggers of ice when Karl’s blue eyes gazed down at her instead of Aaron’s brown ones.
“Where is he?” She bit her bottom lip to keep it from trembling.
“He’ll be back shortly. Just taking a moment with his sister before the rest of the house wakes.”
She gulped. His sister. Of course. Here I am thinking to take advantage of him. Beg him for a few stolen moments, maybe a kiss. I’ve selfishly and conveniently forgotten why he refuses to touch me.
“It’s for the best. You’d never forgive yourself if something happened because you wanted one last moment with him.”
Her wolf was right. She’d die of grief if her actions caused harm to him again or his sister. She put on a good, tough girl attitude, but deep inside she craved what every woman wanted—someone to love who could love her in return. She didn’t want a lifetime of regret or loneliness.
“Oh.” Nicole nodded and closed the door.
It was wrong. Even selfish. But she still wanted him. She needed to feel him hold her. If Tempe came to get her before he did, she’d never feel his arms around her again. Never feel the bond between them flare with desire. Never feel him fill her completely and seal the mate bond. Never feel his mark on her.
“Damn it!” She growled, flipping the coffee table and its contents across the room. It smashed against the wall, leaving brown and red stains dripping down the white walls.
She ran to the wall and grabbed a framed landscape print and hurtled it across the room, relishing the sound of the shattering glass and crunch of the wooden frame. A vase on an end table was next. A glass candy dish by the door joined the remnants of everything else she could break in her bedroom. But trinkets and a painting weren’t enough. She hurled the chairs next, smashing them against the walls.
Her eyes scanned the room. The only thing left untouched was the bed. She screamed and lifted from one side, toppling the four-poster bed. The posts on the far side snapped and the mattresses fell to the floor with a thud.
Tears were next. Her knees gave way and the floor rushed to meet her body. She curled into a ball, hugging her legs to her chest. The emotions poured out of her like a rushing river. It wasn’t fair. She didn’t want to live like her mother had, slowly going crazy because she’d lost her true mate.
“You won’t go crazy. We’re all different. Just because Renata’s wolf couldn’t handle it doesn’t mean I’m going to turn into a psycho.”
I can’t do this … I need him. My body aches to touch him.
“I know, but it will pass. When another’s mark joins with your magick, it won’t be as bad.”
Why don’t you care? Why am I the only one flipping out in here?
“I care very much! Don’t you ever say I don’t. I just see the bigger picture and we need to make the best of the hand we’ve been dealt.”
So just give up?!
“We can’t fight an entire society!” Her wolf’s voice roared in her head. “We can try, but they will kill us. My survival instinct is stronger than my suicidal one.”
CHAPTER SIX
“I’m going to lose her tonight, Sasha. To one of those assholes. And that’s only if she doesn’t kill herself fighting against it.” Aaron leaned against the cold metal bars of his sister’s cage and sighed. Sasha’s soft nose nuzzled the back of his neck. He turned, looking into her soft yellow eyes. Her fur was dulled from malnutrition and she was very underweight, as were most of the prisoners here. Carlotta and Reginald only fed them enough to keep them alive. Their magick kept them from getting sick and dying.
Sasha purred and sat quietly, cocking her head to the side.
“There’s nothing left to do.” He glanced at the ground and then to his beloved sister again. He missed her smile and her twinkling blue eyes and long curly black hair. The sweet memory of her voice had almost completely faded from his mind. “I could try to run with Nicole, but they would hunt us down and kill us. And kill you. Kate, the witch I was telling you about, said she was coming, but no one has come. I’m not sure what she could do, even if she is a creator.”
Sasha nodded and stretched out on the bare cement floor of her cage. He stood, watching her tail flick back and forth. She’d been in this dank place nearly a century. Even if he was able to get her out, he wondered what would really be left of his sister. He could only hope that she and her leopard had a lot to say. If it’d been him in the cage, he would have gone insane. But she seemed calm. He’d seen several of the prisoners give up over the years. Henrick’s mother had been one of them. One day she stopped eating. No amount of pleading could change her mind. Three weeks later she passed away, breaking his friend’s heart.
It wasn’t fair. None of these people deserved this existence.
“Have faith in our creator, Aaron. If she said she was coming, she is,” his leopard’s voice rumbled in the back of his mind. “She will help. She is more powerful than any of these so-called royals.”
We’re losing our mate.
“Perhaps they will kill each other and none will be left to take her.”
Aaron scoffed at his cat’s optimism. Sure.
“Aaron?” Karl’s voice called from the entrance to the cages. “You need to come. Now.”
His heart paused. Karl never sounded worried. He was a man of few emotions, but those five words held the weight of the world in them.
Aaron leapt to his feet and reached the entrance in moments.
Karl’s eyes were dark. “You shouldn’t have left her.”
***
“Nicole?” Tempe’s soft voice fell on her ears. “You have to shift back. We have to get you ready for the ceremony before Carlotta sees this.”
No. She growled and tucked her nose against her stomach, not surprised she’d retreated to wolf form.
“Nicole Antipas. Get your ass off the floor and get dressed for tonight. Right. Now.”
Fury seethed through every part of her body at the sound of her grandmother’s angry words. Rage surged through her and she leapt to her feet, shifting in mid-stride. A scream of anger fueled by her magick propelled everyone in the room backward several feet, even her grandmother.
“My name is Nicole Demakis, you bitch! I hate you and your family and everything that has to do with your damned Council!”
Tempe gasped and crawled backward, inching her body toward the open bedroom door. Carlotta stood, mouth agape and eyes glowing gold with rage.
“I am your elder,” she roared, charging forward. Her hands lifted and she froze several arms lengths away.
The surge of magick was strong, but Nicole crossed her arms and w
ithstood the blast. Her combined family lines made her stronger than her grandmother, and Carlotta knew it. It was why she’d gone to such lengths to hunt Nicole and her sisters.
All wolves had power through the magick that made them paranormal, but it came in varying degrees. As the daughters of two royal lines, she and her sisters all carried with them the strength of both families. They were warriors, stronger than any others in the pack. But none of them had been trained to wield the power. Fights weren’t won on battlefields any longer. They were won with money and weapons. Knowledge was power.
“I don’t care,” she snapped.
Something changed in her grandmother’s gaze. The anger faded and was replaced by a smile.
Shit.
Carlotta turned and walked away, stopping at the doorway where Tempe was crouching. She glanced down at the little wolf and paused. “Should I kill her now, Nicole? Or would you like it to be a precursor to your ceremony tonight?”
Tears ran down Tempe’s cheeks.
Anger boiled inside Nicole and she clenched her fists. It wasn’t fair. Anything she did would cost others their lives. Her grandmother wouldn’t hurt her. Just the people she cared about. She was just as much a prisoner in this place as they all were.
“Nicole, please,” Tempe whimpered.
“Well?” Carlotta’s voice dripped with satisfaction as she turned to face her again.
The rage faded to despair. Nicole dipped her head, staring at the floor. “I submit. I will not resist again.”
“Good. I hate getting blood on the carpet,” she replied, whirling and exiting the room with a flourish.
The woman was a damn lunatic. Everyone in my mom’s family is fucking crazy.
***
Aaron paused in the hallway and bowed his head as Carlotta rushed past. She didn’t stop and he released the breath he’d been holding after she entered the elevator and the doors closed on her.
He rushed to Nicole’s open door and froze. The room was trashed. Every stick of furniture was broken. Every decoration or piece of art had been smashed or shattered. His boots crunched through broken glass and he swallowed nervously. Even the bed hadn’t escaped the indoor storm. It lay halfway upside down with two of the posts snapped in half.
Royals were stronger than most shifters, but that bed had to weigh nearly a thousand pounds. There’s no way, royal or not, Nicole should’ve been able to lift it by herself.
“What happened?” His voice echoed through the empty room.
“Aaron?” Nicole’s voice called from the bathroom.
He waved off Karl and continued into the room, making his way carefully through the wreckage to the en suite bathroom. Nicole stood naked in the center of the room, her arms outstretched and her eyes cast downward.
Tempe was flitting about like a butterfly on crack. A beautiful, blue silk gown was rapidly dropped over Nicole’s head. It didn’t do much in the way of covering her nakedness, but it certainly made his dick stand up and take notice. Damn. Every wolf in that place tonight would want her, and there was nothing he could do.
“You mean nothing you will do.” His cat corrected.
She would never forgive herself if something happened to Sasha and you know it. So just shut up.
Tempe wrapped several thin leather cords around Nicole’s torso, strapping the dress down just enough to hold her beautiful breasts in place.
Jewels were next. She draped a large strand of sparkling sapphires around Nicole’s neck. It snapped together with an ominous click that spoke to the finality of tonight.
The little wolf moved Nicole back and forth, checking the dress, checking the jewelry. Then Tempe hurried Nicole over to the vanity and pushed her down onto the white stool as if the Demakis royal female was no more than a ten-year-old child. Nicole meekly went along with everything. No smart comments nor snarky remarks were uttered from her supple, pink lips.
Just quiet acceptance. Defeat.
She’s given up.
“I don’t think so,” his cat countered. “Her magick is running hot behind those cold, blue eyes. Was it only me who saw the tornado of destruction in her room?”
I can see just fine. But look at her.
Nicole was stunning without the clothes and jewels, but the blue dye of the silk gown brought out the ocean blue in her eyes and the pristine luster of her skin. Her golden hair flowed from a single twist on top of her head, like a waterfall.
She was dressed to be a queen, and she looked the part. Sadly, though, she was being treated as a mere pawn.
“Nicole, what happened?” He stood just to the side, watching Tempe outline Nicole’s eyes with a black pen.
No eye contact was given. She continued to stare downward. Not a single muscle twitched through her whole body.
“Tempe.” His voice rumbled with agitation.
“She spoke out against her grandmother.” Tempe paused and put the pen on the counter. “Then Carlotta threatened my life.”
“And?”
“And, nothing. That was the end of it. Nicole submitted and said she wouldn’t resist the claiming.”
His hackles raised and his fangs descended as he crouched next to Nicole. “Liar. You plan to fight them.” His claws were attempting to lengthen as well. He flexed his arms and neck, controlling the shift and pushing it back. Anger surged through his body. He wanted to protect his mate. Keep her safe.
She turned her head slowly, her blue eyes flashing with gold. “Of course I’m going to fight. There will only be one left at the end and he will be exhausted.” She smiled and a wicked chuckle rolled from her chest. “Then they can kill me and you can return to searching for a way to free your sister. Win, win.”
“Fuck winning. You’ll be dead, Nicole. I can’t lose you!”
“You already lost me. You should’ve helped me contact Kate. You should never have brought me here. People have already died because you brought me here, and more people will die because I’m here.”
“I had no choice. I couldn’t risk my sister’s life.”
“We could’ve found a way to rescue your sister. The pack would’ve helped. Kate would’ve helped.”
“Why would I have ever thought a wolf pack might help me? I’m not family. I’m not even a wolf.”
“You are my true match. They would’ve done anything for you.” She turned away from him and stared into the mirror. “After this, the pack will seek revenge for my death. You and your friends should get as far from my grandparents as you can.”
“Kate said she would come.” He whispered. “Before I smashed the phone.”
Nicole gasped, but still didn’t look up.
“She didn’t come, love.”
“I don’t believe you,” she said. “You’re just trying to convince me not to fight.”
He squeezed his eyes closed, refusing to let any tears fall. Damn it all. He’d really screwed up. He’d done everything Carlotta had said for so many years. Questioning an order was so foreign to him. He’d already stepped way outside his comfort zone by letting that latent wolf live back in Utah. Carlotta would have beaten him within an inch of his life if she’d known he went against orders. Hell, she might have beaten Sasha, too. But he’d taken the risk anyway. For her.
“It was the right thing to do.”
Why couldn’t I do the right thing with my own mate?
“Sarah was a calculated risk. Carlotta would never know about her. Taking Nicole was an endgame move. You couldn’t return without her, nor could you stay with her.”
He sighed and knelt on the floor beside Nicole. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he buried his face in her lap and breathed in her scent. She tensed at first. Then stroked her fingers lightly through his hair. The struggling mate bond between them flared and he heard her catch her breath in another small gasp.
“Please leave. I can’t do this with you here,” she whispered.
“Don’t fight. I’ll find a way to get you back. I promise.” He raised his head and release
d her body, instantly missing the connection he and his leopard craved so desperately.
“No, you won’t.” She shook her head slowly. “I know now why my sister was so angry last year when my parents forced her mate hunt. It didn’t sink in then, but it does now. I won’t let a man rape me and claim me because some senseless tradition says that’s the way it should be. I will die fighting, Aaron. There is no other way for me now.”
He rocked back onto his heels, trying to swallow the rolling sensation in the pit of his stomach. The weight of her words pressed on him like a vice. Air refused to fill his lungs. Anything he did against Carlotta and Reginald would result in the loss of his sister or the loss of his true match … or both.
“It’s time.” Tempe’s voice was hushed from the corner of the bathroom. He’d forgotten she was there with them. “We have to go now. Karl will accompany us. You need to stay as far from Nicole as possible, Aaron.”
He nodded. Tempe was right. If he went with them to the arena, he’d end up dead before the ceremony even started.
Nicole rose from her chair and edged around him to the doorway. Her body moved silently, hips swaying back and forth. The silk of her dress swished back and forth, caressing her skin. The translucent fabric left nothing to the imagination and he growled, jealous that someone else would take pleasure in her delectable curves by the end of the night.
She should be his … was his.
But fate had not been kind to them.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Renata lifted her head and peered between the bars of the cage she’d been locked in for days, maybe a week. It could have been longer. There were no windows. No clocks. They fed her sparingly, keeping her very hungry, and the food was laced with something that kept her unsteady. But she kept eating. Her instinct to survive was stronger than anything else.
Guards were posted outside the door to the concrete room at all times. Even now, she could see one through the window, across the fluorescent-lighted hallway.
Taking Nicole (Vegas Mates Series)(#4) Page 8