Sever the Crown: Vampire Reverse Harem Complete Series

by Mysti Parker

  I held to her tightly. I didn't envy the position she was in or the pressure she must've been feeling, but she could handle it. I'd be there for her if she needed me on the sidelines, possibly as one of her Royal Knights. I only hoped she’d choose her fifth mate quickly, though. While a part of me wanted her to choose me, she didn't have time to wait for me to control my thirst. Plus, I'd shattered her trust. She needed someone better than me, someone who’d sided with her from the very beginning. Even if she asked me in the next five seconds, I'd say no. My heart would be destroyed for the second time, but I would still be there, still close to the one thing I'd hated and then let myself love. She deserved better than I'd given in the past and what I could give in the future, like—

  "Rabbit droppings," I whispered, pulling away from Wren. When the wind picked up, I smelled it close by.

  Wren nodded. "Smaller and less deadly than a mountain lion."

  "And not a bear."

  "Think you can hunt it?" she asked with a daring smile.

  My stomach growled louder than I did. I was suddenly ravenous at the thought of fresh blood.

  Wren pressed her palm to my chest. "Calm, Zac. Don't let the thirst control you during a hunt. You control it. You won't have anything to drink if you're too reckless. Okay?"

  I nodded even though my throat burned and the sharp pang in my stomach grew teeth. She was right though. Bumbling idiot vampires would starve. Calm, collected ones would not.

  "Listen." Wren leaned in close so her strawberry scent overrode everything else. "To pass this test, I want you to get a rabbit, not a mouse or a deer, or anything else that darts in your path. Focus on the rabbit and remember to use all your senses. Got it?"

  "A rabbit and a mouse,” I rasped. My thirst was eating a hole in my throat. “Got it."

  Her eyes widened. "Did you just make a joke?"

  At the slightest rustle, I zipped away from her and dodged between the trees, quiet as I could while flaring out all my senses. Leaves rattled above, within the thick bushes, and on the ground, but I filtered the other distractions out and zeroed in only on the sounds at my feet. I tasted the air, felt the wind shift slightly. Then I stopped and stood silent as death, waiting. Sensing.

  There. Movement to my left as well as the sound of feet and the fast drum of a little heart. I tore after it, leaping over fallen logs while it zigzagged around, its ears straight up. On the other side of a big log, I pounced. It let out a startled squeak as it veered away from my waiting hands, but I was too fast. My fangs lowered, and I {THIS SCENE HAS BEEN REDACTED BY HAWK}.

  While blood still dripped over my chin, more movement rushed through the leaves on the ground straight ahead about ten yards. I dove in that direction and spied a mouse sprinting for a hole at the base of a thick tree trunk. It never made it. {THIS SCENE HAS BEEN REDACTED BY HAWK}.

  I stalked toward my audience of one, wiping the blood from my mouth with the back of my hand. "Did I pass?"

  She grinned. "You did, and you got what you set out to get. I'm impressed."

  "I have a good teacher." I took her hand, and we started toward the road again.

  "I have an even better student. Soon you'll be strutting around like a proper vampire."

  "I'm not strutting yet?"

  "Give it time.” She pressed in closer and squeezed my arm, her smile lighting up the forest. “You've got a lot of it."

  The helicopter ride back to the bunker was a lot more laid back, and I found myself relaxing and enjoying the view. Both outside the window and the one sitting right next to me. While I didn’t get a mountain lion, I still felt good about my progress so far as a vampire. It made me think that maybe I could really do this.

  I threaded my fingers through Wren's, and when she smiled over at me, I mouthed, "Thank you."

  She leaned in and kissed me, short and sweet, then pulled back and mouthed, "You're welcome."

  Her yellow eyes glowed in the chopper’s dim interior lights, and there was something in the way she looked at me that was both different and familiar. I'd seen her look at her other mates like that, with such admiration and devotion, the exact same way they looked at her. I'd often wondered how it would feel to have her look at me like that, too, if things were different, but now, I wasn't what she needed.

  It split my heart down the middle to do it, but I unthreaded my fingers from hers and stared blankly out at the sea of green below and the twinkle of city lights on the horizon. I could feel her gaze studying my profile, hear her unasked questions. I knew I'd have to tell her I couldn't be her fifth mate. As soon as we got to the bunker, I would.

  And it might just be the hardest thing I'd had to tell her yet. I'd fallen hard for her, and it wasn't with the help of a stupid tattoo. I doubted her mates needed that five-pointed star to love her, either. I couldn't have her though. I wouldn't let myself. She needed someone she could trust completely and who would never, ever betray her like I had.

  Wren kept quiet when we landed, seeming deep in thought, and the Royal Knights escorted us the short distance back to the bunker. As soon as we stepped inside, the loud blare of VTV News should've been my first indication that something was wrong. But then a familiar name stalled my next step. William Straker.

  I blurred down the hall and then down the stairs to the next level where the large living room was.

  "Zac?" Wren called after me.

  But I was already staring at William Straker's face on the TV. Straker from the FBI. My partner.

  "New details emerging about the death of William Straker yesterday,” the female news announcer said.

  Death. He was dead.

  "Zac?" Charles asked from the couch on my right. I was vaguely aware of the others’ stares too. "Are you—"

  "Turn it up," I snapped, though I could hear it just fine.

  He did, and the announcer shouted, "His suicide note revealed details about the arena bombing in New Orleans where Vivian Bravo was performing." A typed letter appeared on screen with the middle paragraph highlighted. "'This was meant to be a hit,'" the letter and the announcer read. "'Queen Ravana was the main target, as well as Wren Delacroix, Queen Bronwen’s daughter, and her mates. I knew exactly where the diversion bomb at the art museum twelve miles away was because I helped put it there. My partner, Zac Palmer, orchestrated the whole thing. I couldn't live with the guilt any longer.'"

  I shook my head, the backs of my eyes burning. Bullshit. If he were dead, it couldn’t have been a suicide. Straker would never do that.

  In my periphery, the walls were closing in. Walls made out of four furious vampires. Five, including Wren, who came at me the hardest. She circled around me with her mouth hanging open and that terrible look of betrayal I'd put on her face too many times.

  God damn it. God damn me.

  "Zac," she said, her voice cracking. She crossed her arms as if to hold herself together. "Is this true?"

  I didn't think it was possible to hate myself more than I already did. This look on her face was why I couldn't be her fifth mate, and it killed me worse than my own death. "Yes."

  Chapter Thirteen

  Wren

  If someone had told me that any betrayal could hurt worse than my aunt killing my mother, I’d have punched their lights out and told them to go to hell.

  Yet, here we were. Betrayal now stood right in front of me, pleading at me with the new turquoise eyes I’d given him. He’d wanted me dead but had earned back my trust. Zac was someone I was this close to having in my harem.

  Someone I loved.

  Now I understood at least in part how my mother must have felt when Devin betrayed her.

  “I knew it. I fucking knew it.” Hawk stepped between Zac and me and gently grasped my shoulders. “I’m sorry, Wren. I should have never let him near you.”

  Resting my forehead against his solid chest, I tried to make sense of what had happened and where to go from here. How could I ever trust Zac again? He hadn’t just hired Hawk to kill me, but he’d almost done it h
imself.

  “Just when I thought you might actually be a decent vampire,” Charles said, lighting a cigar.

  Ashe looked like he could rip Zac apart if I gave him the signal. “You lured us out there. It was your idea to infiltrate the concert. You were the one ‘looking’ for the bombs. I knew something was off about it. But Wren trusted you. She trusted you!”

  “I know, and I’m sorry,” Zac said, his voice low and agonized.

  “Sorry won’t cut it. What you did is a felony. Innocent people died.” Marlowe pushed a button on his desk. “You must be held accountable.”

  Moments later, five Royal Knights charged up the stairs and into the room. They were led by Vincent, his size and brawn the exact same as Hawk’s.

  “Take Zac to his quarters. Keep him in there,” Marlowe said.

  “What happened?” Vincent asked, flicking his gaze between Marlowe and Hawk.

  “He tried to blow up Wren and the rest of us,” Ashe said.

  “Let me explain at least,” Zac pleaded. “Wren?”

  I pushed away from Hawk. “What’s there to explain? I trusted you to keep us safe that night.”

  “You can still trust me.”

  “How can I? Who’s to say you haven’t planted a bomb here in the bunker?”

  “I haven’t.”

  “Just get away from me.” My voice cracked. With a firm shove, I pushed him toward the Knights, who took him by both arms.

  Vincent put leather-covered silver cuffs on Zac’s wrists. He didn’t try to fight back.

  “I’d never hurt you, Wren,” he said, his eyes pleading.

  Zac wasn’t my mate, but I could feel his anguish hollowing me out from the inside.

  “You already have.” I turned away from him so he wouldn’t see the angry tears burning my eyes. “I wish I’d never turned you. I should have –”

  “Should have what? Just say it.”

  My chin trembled as I choked on the truth. “I should have let you die.”

  Ashe took me in his arms. “Get him out of here.”

  ****

  A soft knock sounded on my door, followed by Hawk’s gentle voice. “Can I come in?”

  “Sure.” I watched him enter from my seat on the floor where I searched through more of my mother’s things from the never-ending junk in the closet.

  It still amazed me how silently such a big guy could move.

  He settled on the floor beside me just as silently and sat cross-legged like I did. “Have I told you I love you today?”

  His soft expression dragged a smile from me. “No, but I wouldn’t mind hearing it.”

  “I love you.” He picked up my hand and kissed it softly.

  I stroked the stubble on his dark brown cheek. “You’re awfully sweet for a professional killer.”

  Hawk chuckled. “Pop used to say that to Mom all the time.”

  “How did they make it work – as a vampire and human couple, I mean?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. They were just committed to making it work, I think. They had their quarrels now and then, but each of them would apologize, no matter who started it. Then they’d be all lovey dovey. It made us sick, honestly.”

  I laughed. “That sounds so awesome. I sometimes wonder how my mom and dad made it work. He probably never gave her any reason to not trust him though.”

  “You really cared about him, didn’t you? Zac, I mean.”

  Hesitating for a moment, I finally nodded. “Yeah.”

  “If it’s any consolation, I think he actually does care about you.”

  “Too little, too late, I guess.” At least digging through my mom’s old stuff distracted me from some of the doubts and confusion over Zac. After reaching the bottom of a box of random fashion accessories, I shuffled through magazines in another box. How many copies of Woman’s Day did she need? There must have been a good two decades’ worth in there.

  Midway through, I found an ornate box that looked like silver. I quickly touched it just to check, but it didn’t burn me, so I pulled it out.

  “I think it’s platinum,” Hawk said.

  Two tight latches held it together. I put it on the floor and flipped them open, then raised the lid. A tiny face stared back at me. A real face, not a photo. Alarmed, I snapped the lid shut and scooted away from it, grabbing Hawk’s arm for support.

  “What is it? Wren, you’re shaking.” He stroked my hair then reached for the box. “May I?”

  I nodded.

  Carefully, he opened the lid while I hid my face in his shoulder.

  “What the…” Hawk shuddered.

  “It’s a baby,” I whispered, unable to look at it again.

  “It’s tiny. Preserved in resin. There’s an inscription. Willow Delacroix. Born and died 1801.”

  Slowly, I uncovered my face and turned to look at my half sister. She was fully formed, but too tiny to have survived outside the womb. Encased in a solid clear resin set in a red velvet-lined cavity within the box, she’d been perfectly preserved over the past couple centuries. She looked as though she could have been sleeping.

  “There’s something else here,” Hawk said as he slid a rolled-up piece of paper from where it stuck out beneath the velvet. He handed it to me.

  It was a thick parchment, bound by a leather cord. I untied it and read words written in my mom’s unmistakable script:

  Please forgive me, little one. I cannot bear to let you suffer eternal hellfire, so I commit your soul to God Almighty and pray he has mercy for your innocence.

  – Bronwen, La Reine du Sud

  I dropped it on the floor and covered my mouth. From the pained look in Hawk’s eyes, I knew he had come to the same realization I had.

  I let him gather me in his arms as horror washed through me in a full-body shiver. “She killed her. She killed my sister so she wouldn’t be forced to give her to Phil.”

  “I’m sorry… Phil?”

  “Short for Mephistopheles. He’s a demon.”

  “From Dr. Faustus? The Marlowe tragedy?”

  I must have looked totally clueless.

  “It’s an Elizabethan play. My granddad loves it. Mephistopheles was one of the characters.”

  “Oh, well, apparently he’s based on a real demon. My mother made a deal with him to give up her firstborn, so he’d help her secure the throne. But her firstborn was killed, so he came for me instead. Once when I was little, but my mom escaped with me. And just tonight when I was hunting with Zac. Angelo came to our aid this time.”

  “How did, uh…Phil…help her?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Why would she have the baby preserved like that and then hid in a box of magazines?”

  I carefully closed the box and stood, then placed it on a shelf. Kissing two of my fingers, I then touched the box, hoping if my sister’s spirit was near that she wouldn't resent me. “No idea. It would seem that my mother wasn’t at all who I thought she was. Maybe Ravana deserved the throne more than she did. More than I do.”

  Hawk stood and wrapped his arms around me from behind, kissing my cheek. “Don’t ever say that. Your mom made some big mistakes, but whatever good was in her and Albert, you inherited in spades. You’ve got more heart in your little finger than Ravana will ever have.”

  “But without a fifth mate, we’ll never know what kind of queen I could be.”

  “How about we forget about it for a little while?”

  “How can I?”

  “Let me help.” Hawk slid his hands down to my pants and unfastened them. He slipped a hand into my panties and found my clit, circling it with his index finger while he gently plunged his middle finger in and out of my pussy.

  “You were with him out there, weren’t you?” he asked, kissing my neck.

  “Yes…” I moaned and closed my eyes. Would my having sex with Zac be a deal breaker for my fourth mate?

  “I can smell his scent on you and the tree sap on your back. Did you like it?” he asked, quickening the pace of his
fingers.

  “Yes.”

  “What if he fucked your pussy while I fucked your ass? Then we could take turns. Can you picture it?”

  “Oh, god, Hawk…” I lifted my arms over my head and looped them around his neck, widening my stance to give him better access while the vision he’d placed in my mind revved up the energy in my core. Alternately he circled and flicked my clit, then buried two fingers in me and curled them to stroke my G-spot. I came hard, crying out as I clung to him to keep from falling.

  Hawk swept me up in his arms and carried me to the bed. I removed my pants as he unfastened his. Then he flipped me over onto all fours and got behind me. Smoothing his hands up my back, he bunched up my top and bra and squeezed my nipples as he thrust his thick cock into my pussy.

  After pulling out, he teased my ass with the head of his dick then swept some wetness from my pussy with his finger and deposited it just inside the tight opening.

  “Tell me what you want,” he growled.

  “Fuck me.”

  “Like you mean it!”

  “Fuck my ass! Now!”

  He pushed his cock deep into my ass, held on to my hips, and fucked me with long, slow thrusts until my pussy clenched with the first tremors of orgasm. Then he pulled out and buried himself in my pussy, fucking me so hard the bed creaked like it might collapse. I held to the headboard and let the orgasm burst from my core into my limbs. Hawk roared as he came inside me and finally slowed his thrusts until he stopped.

  Leaning over me, he pressed soft kisses along my back and finally pulled out. We collapsed beside each other on the bed. Hawk gathered me in his arms and rolled me on top of him.

  He smiled up at me with such love and devotion in his wine-red eyes. I pressed my lips to his for a long, slow kiss.

  It occurred to me then that any one of these men could father a child with me at any time. Was I ready for that? Were they?

  “Hawk?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Do you think I’d be a good mother?”

  “The best.”

  “But what if…?”

  “I know what you’re asking.” He chuckled and stroked his thumb across my lips. “As long as I can share the experience with you, I don’t care whose genes the child carries. But you know…I’m pretty sure we can all tell if the baby’s mine.”