by R. E. Butler
But he realized that he should’ve already had different views because of Bri.
Chapter 8
Dominique felt like she didn’t breathe or blink while she waited for the video call to connect. She was hopeful that she wouldn’t have to talk to her sister. Leaving her a nice video message would be just fine, if not a very cowardly way to act.
“Who is this?” Natasha demanded. “Oh! Dominique? Where the hell are you?”
Her sister’s voice rose to a high pitch, and she cringed at the piercing tone. “I’m fine, Natasha. I’m not in Arbor. I’m safe on pack lands with the alpha.”
Natasha blinked several times, and then her face turned beet red as she screamed, “Form the army! My sister has been taken captive by the beasts!”
Ryde snarled softly and Dominique cast him an apologetic look. “Natasha, for goodness sake, stop! I said I’m fine, and I’m here of my own free will. The alpha and I are true mates.” She pulled her hair to the side to show the mark he’d made. It had healed quickly, and she now had a scar where the puncture wounds had been. He had a similar wound on his wrist, which she liked a lot.
Natasha’s eyes narrowed. “No. You’re not mated to one of those rutting beasts. It’s not possible.”
“It’s very possible because it happened.”
“Stockholm Syndrome, then. You were kidnapped and fell in love with your captor.”
“First of all, I wasn’t kidnapped, so there’s no syndrome of any sort going on here. But most important, Natasha, is that he’s my true mate. I felt connected to him the moment I met him.”
“How did you meet?”
“It doesn’t matter.” She didn’t think she’d believe her anyway. “But I’m calling to let you know that I’m okay. Obviously I won’t be coming back to the city, unless you lift the ban on shifters and overrule the death laws.”
Death laws, as she’d come to think of them, were set in place by her sister when she took over the city. Basically any shifter who set foot within the walled city could and most likely would be killed on sight. According to Ryde, they had similar rules when it came to vampires.
“I’ll do nothing of the sort. I’m willing to overlook that you missed the special dinner I planned to honor our father’s memory, but you need to return to the city before sunrise. I will send the army to collect you at nightfall if you don’t return on your own.”
Ryde joined her suddenly, leaning over and growling toward the camera. “You will not take her from me.”
“She’s not yours if she’s dead, beast.”
“Are you threatening me?” Dominique demanded.
Natasha’s eyes darkened as she sneered. “If you choose the beasts, you’ll be my enemy. And you know what happens to my enemies.”
Dominique’s world narrowed down to her sister’s words. “You’d kill me?” She couldn’t stop the disbelief in her voice. She’d known her sister was a harsh mistress, killing her way to the top to lead. But she’d always thought there was a line she wouldn’t cross, that she’d never kill her because they were family.
“You’re with me or against me. Make your choice, Dominique. If you choose wrong, I’ll slaughter the pack, and you, and raze the forest. There won’t be a wolf left standing.”
Ryde growled furiously. “Don’t threaten my mate. If you cross our border, my pack will be waiting. She’s my mate and she’s staying with me, period. If you’re smart, you’ll stay in Arbor.”
“Watch it, beast. I know all about you and your pack. I’ll have my sister by sunrise, or I’ll bring hell to your territory at sunset.”
The video call ended abruptly and Dominique sat back, letting out a trembling breath and trying to still her shaking hands. “Oh, Ryde.”
He shushed her gently as he wrapped his arms around her. “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.”
“How can you? Your people hate vampires. Why would they fight for me?”
“You said it earlier. You’re my alpha female. That makes you a leader of the pack, whether they like your kind or not.”
She shook her head. “It’s better if I just leave. I can’t risk a war on my behalf.”
“You’re not going anywhere.” He cupped her face and stared into her eyes. “We’re in this together.”
“I’m scared.”
“Don’t be. I’m here and I’ve got your back.” He glanced at the clock. “We’ve got about an hour until sunrise. I’m calling in the council.”
“What should I do?”
“We need to get you some clothes that fit, and then you can join me out on the back deck where I’ll convene the council and high-ranked males.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“What? That you’re my true mate? That I’d go to war against a hundred armies to keep you safe and keep you forever?”
She arched a brow. “You sure changed your tune in less than a day.”
He smiled and pressed his hand over his heart. “It’s easy when I feel so connected to you. I wish I’d stayed in bed when you appeared so you wouldn’t have felt abandoned. But I can make up for it now by never leaving your side.”
He was so sincere. So fierce. She pressed her hands to his cheeks. “Remember that you’re different now. You’re faster and stronger, and harder to kill.”
“That’s not something I’d forget, trust me.”
He grabbed his phone and called Finn, his second-in-command. He wasted no time in telling him to gather the council and high-ranked pack members to meet in the backyard in fifteen minutes. Then he made another call, arranging for clothing to be brought immediately.
“Debbie is a pack member who watches Bri for me. Her mate is a mid-ranked male.”
“How does the ranking stuff work, anyway?”
“Males fight for position. The higher the rank, the more responsibility and power the position wields, but none are higher than alpha. The highest-ranked males are the top four under me. Finn is second, Byron is third, Dahl is fourth, and Yon is fifth. There are four elders: Don, Roy, Kirk, and Leon.”
“How often do your males fight?”
“If a male wants to move up, he petitions me for the right to fight, and I either agree or don’t. Sometimes a young wolf will think he’s better than he is and want to be higher ranked. Depending on the situation, I may have him wait a few moons. Newly shifted wolves – the youth who come into their shifts when they’re teenagers – are always at the bottom, and they have to spend time learning how to hunt and fight in their shifted forms before they’re allowed to fight for rank. It usually takes a few years to get good at that.”
“I’ll bet you were a star pupil.”
“Well,” he said with a smug grin, “I was at the head of the class.”
“Did you always want to be alpha?”
“Yes. I felt destined to the position.”
“Is it always a fight to the death?”
“Not always. An alpha can choose to fight and rule that the fight continues until one wolf is unconscious or taps out. If it’s the alpha who loses, he could still be part of the pack, but alphas generally are very tied to the position and normally they’ll choose to leave the pack and start a new one. The alpha before me didn’t want to give up this pack or start over, so he chose to fight me and make it a fight to the death.”
She opened her mouth to ask why they couldn’t start over themselves when Bri came to mind. It wasn’t fair to ask Ryde to leave his daughter behind, and she was fond of the little girl herself.
“What happens when you win the mating-by-combat and there are people in the pack who don’t want a vampire in their midst?”
“They’ll have the option to leave the pack. Any time there’s a change in leadership, there are members who leave because they aren’t happy with things, or wanted to start over and were just waiting for an opportunity.”
There was a knock at the front door, and Ryde went to answer it. A woman followed him into the room carrying a paper sack. She squeaked in surprise and
backed up quickly, slamming into the wall.
Ryde let out a growl and the woman dropped her head and tilted it, showing her neck. Even though Dominique didn’t know much about wolves, she did understand a submissive gesture when she saw one. “Debbie, this is my mate, Dominique. Yes, she is a vampire, and no, she isn’t a danger to you or anyone else. You’ll treat her with the respect her position as alpha female deserves or I’ll send you to the barn until you learn better manners.”
Debbie let out a soft sob, and Dominique’s heart went out to her. Crossing the room, she laid her hand on the female’s shoulder and squeezed gently. “I was brought here by the mating necklace. I know you’re scared of me, but you really have no need to be. I’m not interested in your blood, or anyone else’s.”
Debbie’s head snapped up and she locked her gaze on the pendant on Dominique’s chest. “Oh! I… didn’t know the spell brought other types of supernatural creatures. I’ve only ever heard of wolves being brought through it.”
“I was as surprised as you,” Ryde said. “And I think it was your idea.”
“Excuse me?”
“Bri cast the spell in his place,” Dominique said.
Debbie clapped her hand over her mouth as she gasped. “What?”
“I’m not angry with you,” Ryde said as he joined them. “How could I be when the spell brought me the one female who was meant for me? I know it’s strange, but she’s mine, and we’re both marked and mated. Nothing on earth could tear us apart.”
“The pack will be in an uproar,” she said when she lowered her hand. “But I’ll stand by you, and so will my mate, Max.”
“I’m convening the elders and high-ranked males in a few minutes, which is why I needed you to bring clothes.”
“Here,” she said, lifting the bag. “I brought a few things since I didn’t know exactly what you needed.”
“You can leave now,” Ryde said. “Don’t mention that Dominique is a vampire until I convene the elders and high ranked males.”
“Of course.”
“Thank you, Debbie,” Dominique said.
“You’re welcome. And congratulations.”
She ducked from the room as Dominique dumped out the contents of the bag on the desk and sorted through the clothing. There was a dress, a pair of jeans, a pair of leggings, and two tops, along with sandals and tennis shoes. For a heartbeat, she missed her own clothes, but she pushed the idea from her mind. Judging by Natasha’s reaction to her mating, there was no way she’d be allowed back into the mansion to pack her things. It would be foolish to try, anyway.
She opted to put on the leggings and a navy tunic. The sandals were too big, but the white tennis shoes were just right.
“Do I look okay?” she asked, turning to face Ryde.
“You look lovely.”
“Are you sure you’re not biased?”
“Perhaps, but also honest. I’ll buy you new things when all this is settled.”
“If I’d known I was going to pass out and wake up in my new home, I would’ve put on some clothes.”
He chuckled and held out his hand. “I can hear the wolves in the back. Let’s go meet them.”
She tried to calm her flying pulse, but as they left the office and walked toward the back of the house, she couldn’t stop the fear that clawed up her throat. She was about to step out into the yard and face a group of wolves, half of whom were strong, powerful pack members.
“Hey,” Ryde said as they reached the kitchen. Beyond, she could see people in the yard where floodlights lit the grass. “Whatever happens, I have zero regrets about meeting you. I’m alpha, and you’re my alpha female. It doesn’t matter to me that you’re a vampire, and any pack members who think different can feel the bite of my fangs or tuck their tails and run away.”
She inhaled deeply, held it for a moment, and then exhaled. Nodding, she said, “Lead the way, alpha.”
He winked. “I think you owe me an orgasm every time you call me that.”
“You got it, alpha.”
Chapter 9
Ryde was worried. He knew he was putting on a brave, unworried face for Dominique, but he had no idea how his people would react. Many had lost family members in the war and harbored a deep hate toward the vampires.
He glanced at his mate. She looked delicious enough to eat in the leggings and long top that accentuated her curves. The top was low cut and showed off the pendant perfectly.
He smoothed her hair back off her shoulders and touched the mating mark on her neck. Being close to her, touching her, settled some of the rioting emotions within him.
“We’re going out together. No matter what, stay with me.”
“I had no intention of going anywhere without you.”
“Good.”
He kissed her briefly and then reached for the door. The eight males he’d called for were waiting in the yard, their faces a mixture of curiosity and sleepiness. He and Dominique stepped out onto the back deck and stopped at the top of the stairs that led down to the grass. The sky was dark, but the outside floodlights lit up the yard like it was noon.
“I called you all here this morning because the mating necklace spell brought my true mate to me.” He paused for a moment and then continued, “She’s a vampire, and her name is Dominique Tremaine. Her sister is the mistress of the city of Arbor.”
For what felt like an eternity, the males didn’t so much as twitch an eyelid, and then they growled. The four high-ranked males pushed the elders behind their backs and bared their fangs and claws. He could scent their fear, an acrid taste that sat bitter at the back of his mouth.
“You will stand down!” he ordered. When the males didn’t back down from their defensive postures, he called on his wolf and roared out his fury.
And then something amazing happened.
Beside him, Dominique bared her fangs and howled, too, her voice joining his in a sound of pure power. The males were overcome with the authority of their joint positions, and although Ryde could tell they weren’t thrilled, all eight males dropped to their knees and bared their necks in submission.
“The fuck?” Dominique whispered.
He picked up her hand and kissed the top. “We’ll talk later.”
She nodded sharply and they faced the males once more. “If you’re done acting like assholes, I called you here for a reason. You don’t have to like that my true mate is a vampire, but you do need to be respectful. Am I clear?”
Finn lifted his head and nodded. He didn’t look happy, but at least he wasn’t all fangs and claws. Ryde liked the male. He didn’t want to have to fight him, especially not when there was much more at stake than the fact that his mate was an immortal.
“What do you need, Alpha?” Finn asked.
The males relaxed slightly and rose to their feet. They didn’t seem defensive, but they did still look wary.
“I was going to wait until tonight to bring Dominique before the pack, then step forward for a mating-by-combat.”
Don, one of the elders, arched a white brow. “We haven’t had one of those in decades.”
“Why can’t you just leave?” Yon asked. “If she’s not welcome in our territory because of our laws, why would you fight? You could just concede alpha and walk.”
He snarled. “I have a daughter.”
“Oh. Sorry, Alpha. I wasn’t thinking.”
Ryde could relate. He’d spent a lot of time in the past thinking about himself and the pack and not about his daughter. The last thing he’d do is walk away from the pack with Dominique and leave Bri behind.
“I will fight for our mating, but first we must deal with the vampires.”
He explained the threat that was coming at sunset. He didn’t doubt for a moment that Natasha would send her army to kill them all. As hurt as Dominique had been by her sister’s betrayal, Ryde hadn’t been surprised. Natasha had a reputation for being ruthless to the point of cruelty. She would absolutely have viewed Dominique’s mating as an act of treache
ry. When the sun rose and Dominique didn’t return to Arbor, Natasha would declare war on the pack, and Ryde and his people would have no choice but to fight.
Finn let out a growl. “This shouldn’t be our fight.”
“She’s the alpha female,” Dahl, the fourth-ranked male, said. “Until Ryde declares her before the pack and fights for their mating, she’s technically our leader. That means this fight is our fight.”
Leon, one of the elders, cleared his throat. “I don’t think the vampires would care if the pack supported the mating or not. If they’re coming to bring war, they will bring it, period. It would be foolish to lock ourselves in our homes and leave the alpha pair on their own. The vampires would come with blood lust in their minds, and none of us would be safe.”
Dominique looked at Ryde. “He’s not wrong. My sister will tell the army that every wolf is fair game.”
“She’s the alpha female by mating,” Roy, an elder, said. “That means we need to support her, and Ryde, period.”
Ryde looked over the group. A few seemed fine with things, but the males he trusted the most weren’t happy by any stretch. “The army will come at sunset. Our warriors need to be ready at the border to fight. I don’t care if you don’t like what my mate is. Until the fight is over and we’ve won, she is your leader as much as I am, and you will fight for her and for our pack, or you’ll be in the shed in prison, waiting to stand trial for treason.”
Finn snarled. “What happens when we win?”
“Then you can fight me in the mating-by-combat. But I warn you, I’m of a mind to stay alpha and keep my beautiful mate, so you’d better come with fangs and claws ready. I won’t go down easily.”
Finn gnashed his teeth and rolled his shoulders. “The warriors will be ready before sunset.”
Four of the eight males left, two elders and two high-ranked males staying behind. Ryde and Dominique stepped down onto the grass and she shook their hands.