“You know, Braydon. I can forgive a lot of things. Abusing me without going mad isn’t among them. Plotting to turn me into something I don’t want to be is another. I loved you for you, never wishing to change anything about you. I loved you. You were worth enduring this curse for, even if it only ended in pain. Get out.”
Chapter 16
The heat of the bayou was endless. I had spent countless days inside the room, refusing to allow anyone in. I was in heat; that much was apparent. He’d started my change, knowing there would be no way to prevent it from happening. I wanted one thing and one thing only. Him. I wanted him buried within me, humming as I came around his massive cock. I wanted to taste him, to feel him as he took me to the endless precipice that only he could.
My fingers were a constant fixation to my flesh, slowly exploring it with the ability to feel it finally. I didn’t even care when Braydon entered the room, watching me through heated eyes that grew hooded in lust. He wanted me, needed me as much as I needed his knot buried in my cunt. He didn’t leave; he watched me while slowly stroking his cock. We did this for hours, me coming undone with my fingers while he viewed it. I wanted to weep every time he came, wasting the essence that I needed more than air. He wasted it, wiping it away with a cloth that I took from him, sniffing it as everything within me demanded I rub it against my flesh. It took everything inside of me, every ounce of fucking willpower I held not to do just that.
I had insane urges, urges that made no sense to the witch I had been. I knew they were instinct, that of a wolf in heat and not mine. My body was an endless ache; my pussy had a pulse. A pulse that throbbed relentlessly and grew more painful with every empty orgasm I gave myself. My skin was sensitive, making it easy to get off, and yet it didn’t help alleviate the need that pounded through my cunt.
“I ache, Braydon,” I whimpered on the fourth day of seclusion.
“Use me,” he demanded roughly, his tone filling with pain as if he too ached from my denial to cave to the baser need that filled me. “You can’t do this alone, little one. You’re suffering needlessly. Let me soothe that ache, let me take away the pain.”
“No,” I growled thickly, the sound vibrating through my chest. “I am a witch!” I hissed like a beast as my body heated. Sweat caked my hair to my face and my body. My naked flesh was slick, arousal coating my sex from the endless touches and orgasms that I’d given myself.
“Get dressed,” he snapped. “If you won’t use me, you will find another to soothe that aching cunt. You will not suffer this alone. No woman should be left in her need to suffer, not when so many are willing to fix that itch that irritates.”
He threw clothes at me, and I caught them, narrowing my eyes at him suspiciously. Braydon left the room, his shoulders taut with irritation. Slowly I slipped on the shorts and then the oversized top. I smiled through the strain I felt at being out in the fresh air. My body sang with the thought of sunshine.
I stepped out of the bedroom, letting my eyes adjust to the light. There were no wolves on guard, and the door was opened, leading outdoors. I moved quickly, wanting to get outside before Braydon sealed the door, or changed his mind. Emerging from the house, I tipped my sweat-drenched hair up, bathing my face in the sun’s healing light.
Growls sounded around me. It forced me to take in the men that watched me hungrily. I searched for Braydon, finding him standing behind the men. He observed me, noting the unease the men’s hungry growls made me feel. I was a bitch in heat surrounded by men who could fix that never-ending ache between my thighs.
Realizing what he’d done, anger fizzled to life within me. I didn’t want anyone else. I wanted him. The thing about that was, he could fucking suffer right beside me for messing with what I was without asking me first.
My gaze settled on him before slowly turning toward the swamp he’d walked me through to get here. Hope wasn’t here. Nothing was holding me to this place. They had returned her to Avery; she was safe now. I walked past the men who growled deeper, scenting the slick arousal that no amount of orgasms seemed to ease. Braydon’s eyes filled with lust, pride, and cockiness as I ignored the other wolves.
My glare slid from his to the soothing pool of water that Moira had mentioned was their drinking water. I’d bathed in it unabashedly, and yet they were supposed to use it for drinking? Disgusting. Judging by the women who were carrying in jugs of water from a trail leading deeper into the bayou, I was guessing they’d had the same thought.
Slowly, I walked toward the pool, feeling the heavy stares of the men with every step I took away from them. Braydon didn’t crowd me, nor did the others make a move to stop me walking to the water, where I slowly made my way to the edge, lifting my eyes to the open swamp that spread as far as the eye could see.
My body ached from the moment I sniffed the air. The scent of male arousal sent a wave of need pushing through me. Ignoring it, I reached down, cupping the water before I brought it up to wash my face. The cold water felt heavenly against my heated flesh. Standing, I turned to stare at Braydon, who hadn’t moved, even though his naked chest coiled with tension. His tattoos drew the eye, trapping it in the endless strength that they offered. It took an effort to tear my eyes from his flesh, ignoring the need to attack him and take from him what I needed.
Men and women watched me warily. There were families here, couples that seemed immune to my current state of need. I wasn’t sure how they were immune or up to date on my lycanthrope lore since other than Braydon, I hadn’t wanted or cared about their history. Exhaling slowly, I faced the swamp. Braydon thought I would rip my clothes off and demand he take me, fool that he was.
He screamed the moment I started forward, running with everything I had left toward the swamp. Men snarled while women gasped, knowing that being in the middle of heat, a woman was helpless to do ought but lay on her back and please her alpha. Fuck that noise. I ignored the pain to my feet as I leaped over branches, propelled by the need to escape what I was becoming. I wasn’t running from Braydon. I was running from what was happening to me. It was too much, too foreign in my mind to become something else.
I could hear his growl as he rushed after me; the sound of countless feet pounding against the bayou’s mucky floor made me run faster. It took effort not to turn around and tackle Braydon and fuck him in front of the others, marking him as my alpha. I needed help and vodka. Lots of vodka to dull the need to bite him back, fuck, I wanted to bite him.
My lungs burned; my thighs quivered with the pain as adrenaline rushed through me. I rounded a formation of rocks, climbing it blindly as it tore the flesh of my fingers. On the ledge, someone grabbed me, and I growled, snapping until Avery’s delicate features broke through the haze of lust and pain that vibrated palpably against my flesh.
“I have you, Laura,” she said before Conner snorted, tearing my eyes from hers to him and his men who stared down at something below.
“Who the fuck did you piss off, Cheveron?” Mayhem asked, noting the pack of wolves who stared up at me from below.
“My mate,” I shrugged nonchalantly before hugging Avery. “Hope?” I demanded.
“Safe and worried about you and back in control of her magic,” she replied, gazing down at the men who watched us silently. “There’s an entire pack of wolves chasing you, any particular reason why they would be?” she questioned, pushing her dark hair away from her face.
“I have doggie issues,” I admitted. “I may or may not be…” Braydon growled low in his throat, and it caused everything within me to silence. My body jerked toward his, and I shook my head, dispelling the hold he had on me. “Do you remember my little soulmate issue?”
“I remember, Braydon, right?” she asked while her gaze swung to my man.
I growled at her, causing her eyes to widen as her mouth gaped open. “Laura, there’s something wrong with your face.”
“I said I have doggie issues!” I snapped
thickly.
“Avery, step away from her for a moment, my love,” Conner demanded softly, his dark eyes slowly taking in the way my head had lowered while my shoulders had moved back. “And don’t look at the half-naked werewolf below. She’s in heat; I can smell it on her.”
“Laura is a witch; witches don’t go into heat, Conner.” Avery still stepped back, staring at me. Her gaze moved to the pack of wolves below, and I snarled without warning, snapping at her because her gaze had slid over Braydon.
“She was, yes,” Conner admitted, keeping his hands up with his palms exposed, watching my every move. “We need to get her away from him because right now, everything inside of her is wrong. I’m guessing that nasty bite on her throat and neck has something to do with her doggie problems.”
“You bit her?” Avery demanded, staring down at Braydon with hatred running through her.
Her magic whipped through the surrounding air, soothing the need within me. I reached for her, moaning with the need for the power. I touched her face absently, pulling her closer as tears streaked down my cheeks, longing to feel that rush of energy again, and she let me. She held me close, stroking my hair while I sobbed against her.
“Oh, Laura,” she whispered, holding me while she stared at Conner over my head. I knew I looked pathetic, dirty, covered in sweat while sobbing against her because I couldn’t get close enough to the magic that I longed to feel coursing through me. “Let’s get her out of here.”
“If you take her, she will die.” Braydon’s words rocked through me. “She’s becoming what she was born to be.”
“Her mother was a witch, mutt.” Avery had no problem pissing off the men below. Growls sounded with her slur, and yet Braydon held still, holding his pack at ease.
“Yes, but her father was not.”
“Vikings murdered her father,” she challenged.
“Her hybrid father was King of the Hybrids of Norway. He escaped her mother’s hold, leaving a child in her womb. Vikings didn’t murder him; he was one. He was also a hybrid wolf, and that is why Laura’s mother hunted both down relentlessly. I’m trying to save her life.”
Avery paused, pushing the matted hair away from my face as she surveyed me. I knew my eyes were changing because everything was sharper, more focused. I could feel my gums aching, and the change lay there just below the surface.
A low, deep growling started again, and my gaze swung to the source. I lowered my head, sharpening my focus on Braydon before I lunged, leaping from the rock in a swift, solid, graceful movement. I paced around him, ignoring Avery, who gasped and tried to follow me.
“I wouldn’t do that, waif. She’s about to claim him, violently if I’m not mistaken,” Conner chuckled huskily.
“The fuck, she’s prowling like a bitch in heat,” Mayhem hissed. “I want one.”
“Little wolf,” Braydon purred huskily, watching me walk in a circle around him while my nostrils flared, scenting him.
The surrounding men formed a protective circle to guard us against the vampire and witch that watched on from above. As if they thought we needed it. Braydon followed my movement, smirking as I slowly continued to walk around him.
“Oh, sweet girl,” he crooned thickly, heat pooling in his pretty blue eyes. “I can smell your need. I’m right fucking here, take it. Take what you need,” he offered, holding his arms out wide and yet he remained just out of my reach.
My hands balled into fists, clenching and releasing while I prowled around him. My body was a fire without an outlet, burning me from the inside out. My nipples hardened beneath the shirt, and before I could stop myself, I’d ripped it off because it offended and hurt my sensitive flesh. Ice-blue eyes dipped to my hard nipples before slowly coming back up to rest on my face. I didn’t care that everyone here could see me, or scent my need that filled the surrounding area. My sole focus was the alpha before me. My mate. Mine.
I lunged, and he caught me easily. His mouth nipped against my throat even as he turned us back toward home. The wolves flanked us, not trusting the vampires and witch who followed us without invitation.
“Your kind isn’t welcome here,” one wolf sneered.
“I’m not leaving her again. She’s my blood and my best friend,” Avery argued as Conner and Mayhem flanked her. “I do not care what she becomes, but I do refuse to leave her again.”
“Let them come,” Braydon uttered through the flesh of my neck his teeth held, locking me into a sense of calmness with his teeth. His tongue brushed against my throat, and I growled loudly. My cunt contracted, and he growled as he was trying to get me back to the house to soothe my ache.
I scratched his flesh and enjoyed the hiss of pain that escaped past his teeth. He released my neck, adjusting me while he continued to walk us toward the compound.
“If you don’t stop demanding I fuck you, we won’t make it to the bed,” he warned.
“I don’t care,” I hissed, pushing my hand into his pants while he did everything in his power to keep me upright. “Now!” I demanded, and he stopped.
“Take them to the compound,” Braydon growled, pulling his cock free before he pushed me onto it. I screamed, crying out as everything inside of me clicked into place.
“Oh, wow,” Avery snorted.
“Don’t look,” Conner countered. “She isn’t your Laura right now. She’s all wolf, orphan. You anger her, and she will attack. You look at her alpha, and she will do everything she can to murder you,” Conner explained. He turned, staring at the wolf who had stepped close to them. “Show us where we can wait out their mating.”
“This way,” he said before pointing toward the barren swamp.
I watched them silently. A red haze covered my vision while I watched her move toward her mate. Once they were gone from sight, I lowered my gaze to the cock that was slowly moving within my core. My teeth sharpened with need, and I leaned over, licking Braydon’s shoulder before I sunk my teeth into his flesh, enjoying the sharp moan that escaped him from my mating mark.
“Good girl,” he purred before letting loose on me.
Chapter 17
Braydon carried me into the house with his arms around my naked torso, dressed only in shorts to cover my sex-swollen flesh. We’d spent hours in the bayou, ignoring the heat as we’d fucked violently. I’d claimed him, and he bore the proof of it on his shoulder and neck. He’d allowed it, encouraging me to ravage it to mark him mine in every way. I’d felt my body locking around his, holding him against the entrance to my womb, which had sucked greedily for his come to fill it. He’d given me everything he had, and when exhaustion had hit me hard, he’d growled low in his chest until my eyes grew heavy with the need to sleep.
Laying me in his bed, I watched him through heavy eyes. I wasn’t stupid; I knew what it meant to have claimed him. Only a wolf can claim another. I’d bitten him deeply, and worse, I’d fed from his blood like a gluttonous bitch. He was weakened, and I’d done that to him. He’d swayed while walking me back to the house, catching himself and righting his steps.
I pushed my hair away from my neck, peering up at him in invitation. He watched me, a sad smile lifting his generous lips.
“I can find another to feed from, Laura. You need your strength.”
I growled low in my throat, hating that he’d even consider feeding from another woman. Possession burned red-hot through me, and I snapped my teeth together hard. His glacier blue eyes rested on the exposed soft column of my throat. Fangs exploded from his gums, and I shivered without hiding it.
“You are mine,” he whispered hoarsely. “I will fuck no other now that you are with me. I don’t think you’re ready to feed me though, little wolf. You are yet to finish your transformation.”
“If you feed from anyone else, I will rip their fucking throat out,” I hissed, and then winced from the murderous tone that had dripped from my lips. His brows tightened togethe
r on his forehead, and he kneeled before me. His hands smoothed my hair away from my face before his lips brushed against mine.
“Fine, but we may end up fucking again because everything inside of you is burning to carry my son in your fertile womb, sweet girl. Drinking blood is an intimate act, and there is no separating it from being so.”
“And yet you would have fed from another?” I accused unable to stop the anger that burned through me at the idea of him with anyone else.
“To keep you strong and healthy, Laura, I’d do whatever it takes,” he admitted, cradling my face between his hands. “From the moment I first saw you, I have never wanted another woman. I have craved you and you alone since the first moment you allowed me to kiss you upon the shores of your homeland. I’ve loved you since the moment you slapped me for doing something so human that it melted the ice which encased your precious heart,” he murmured before his mouth lowered, hovering over my throat. His fangs pushed through my flesh, causing heat to throb at my core.
“I love you, too, Viking.” It was a whisper, barely audible against the pull of my blood. He backed up, staring at me with blood dripping from his lips. “I love you, and it doesn’t stop, ever. I may not like you, but I never stop loving you. I’m leaving with Avery, Braydon. I will protect you from myself, even if doing so rips me apart.”
He knelt back on his haunches, staring at me. “Leaving me won’t stop it, Laura.”
“Neither will me becoming something else, Braydon. You can’t stop it from coming for us, and I am in love with you. I don’t know when it started, but I feel it, just as I feel the curse starting to unfold. You may not be berserker, but you are hybrid. You can still shred me and murder me easily. It’s easier this way. You have to let me go.”
“You’re my mate. My soulmate, but you’re also the mate I chose to be my queen.”
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