“Castamere took you because of me,” he snarled. “He hurt you because of me!”
“No,” she shook her head. “He took me because I embarrassed him at his ball. Him hurting me had nothing to do with you.”
“You’re wearing my fucking mark,” he roared, causing her to startle hard. “You’re mine to protect, and I didn’t get the fucking job done!”
“I’m . . . not,” she whispered quietly.
When War’s eyes narrowed on her, she spoke up. “I’m not yours, War. Your mark on me, it . . .”
“Didn’t fucking fade,” he finished for her.
Nora opened her mouth to argue, but the words faded when War’s eyes flashed that same bright gold from when he’d confronted Castamere. He was worked up, and unlike Castamere, Nora knew better than to push him when he was like this.
Frown deepening, he grunted, “I’ve made a decision.”
Swallowing hard, Nora struggled to ignore the way War’s eyes traveled down her body and slowly back up. That scent was back again, the one from the battle, the one that had every hair on her body back on end.
“But first I have something for you. A gift.”
What? She didn’t want a gift! She wanted to hear more about this decision!
Without another word, War walked to the bed, peeled the covers back, and lifted her up. “We’ll go to the den. It’s less . . .”
“Less what?”
“Less bedroomy.”
Bedroomy?
Nora was wearing a pair of gray yoga pants and a baggy sweatshirt that matched. Eyes lifting from her clothes to him, she asked, “You playing Barbie doll with me?”
He grinned and shrugged. “You melted back into your human skin.” Glancing at her, he smirked, “I could have left you naked.”
Her face grew hot as a blush crept up her neck and landed in her cheeks.
War carried her to a leather sofa in the small den that was on the same floor as their rooms. The entire floor was designated as private quarters for the Alpha, and Nora had to admit that she liked the privacy.
He settled her on the sofa and then stood, pacing away and then back. He seemed nervous.
“What’s is it?” she asked, folding her hands together. Her eyes shifted quickly between him and the door. “What’s the gift?”
Chapter 23
War liked that he knew her enough now to read her easily. She was nervous. He was too.
Foregoing the sofa across from her and the seat beside her, he dropped his ass onto the wooden coffee table right in front of her. His knees were splayed wide on either side of hers as he grabbed her hands and rubbed his thumbs over her knuckles. He was excited to give her this, and it was the strangest fucking thing. He hadn’t given a gift in so damn long that he’d forgotten what it felt like to be invested in someone else’s happiness. And this, this was big. This was going to loosen up some of that old regret and shame that had built up in Nora like proofed concrete.
Nervous, Nora’s voice wavered as she prodded, “W-War?”
Unwilling to wait any longer, he just blurted out, “I checked on her. I found Nema, and she’s alive and well.”
Nora’s face blanked, and for the longest minutes of War’s life, she just sat there dazed. Finally, all the air left her in a whoosh, and she jerked her hands from his and fell forward, burying her face in her hands.
Shit! “Nora?” Grabbing her shoulders, he massaged them gently. “Nora? I’m . . . I’m . . .” Honestly, he didn’t know what to be because he didn’t know what this reaction was. Was she happy? Sad? Enraged? Going into a psychotic episode? He could scent tears and fuck!
“Nora, baby,” he crooned gently. “You gotta talk to me.”
“Tell me,” she breathed.
It took him a minute to process her request before he swallowed thickly. “Your pack is still in the same place and she’s still with them. She’s happy.”
Nora’s head whipped up, and tear-filled, shocked eyes landed on him.
“It’s true.” He brushed her hands away from her cheeks and cupped her face in both hands. “She’s happy. She has a son.”
“And a mate?”
The hope in Nora’s voice was hard to crush, but he wasn’t giving her anything but one hundred percent truth.
“No, baby, no mate. Just her and her boy, but it’s enough.”
Nora’s face crumpled as she broke down and launched herself into War’s arms. He hugged her up good and tight and just let the emotion wash through her as she cried her relief into his arms, her legs curling up so she was the tiniest little ball of woman in his lap.
“H-how?”
He knew what she was asking. How did a woman have a son and no mate? It was unheard of in the shifter world.
“She adopted,” he explained quickly so she wouldn’t go getting the wrong idea by thinking that her sister had suffered the loss of a mate. “She stopped waiting for love to find her. She went out and found her own happiness. She did it. And from what my contact said, she’s a good mom. Protective, loving, she puts her boy first always. She took all that affection she was saving for a mate and poured it into her son. And he needed it. His parents abandoned him, and when he went to her, he was an unwatered seed. He’d stopped growing half open, but because of her, he’s sprouted. Hell, he’s thriving!”
Nora chuffed a watery laugh and pulled back with a sniffle. “She couldn’t even keep a plant alive before.”
“Well she’s been doing something right. The kid didn’t talk before, didn’t interact. Now, he’s a little tornado, free to whirlwind through the pack as he pleases lest anyone tempt the wrath of his mama wolf. She’s a fierce protector.” Lifting a hand, he cupped her cheek, swiping a thumb under her eye to catch a stray tear. “She’s doing good, really good. We could go see her if you wanted.”
Nora sucked in a breath, flattening her hand over War’s before sitting up straight and using both hands to wipe tears off her face. “No.”
“No?” he asked, confusion spearing his brows.
“No,” she confirmed composing herself. With a nod, she stared at his chest. “She’s just gotten her feet under her and is relearning to walk on her own. I’m not going back to ruin that.”
“Ruin it? You couldn’t ruin it. But you could be a part of it.”
“No. Our relationship was cemented long ago. I’m used to carrying and she’s used to letting me, and I’m not blaming her. I’m to blame just as much for all the shit we went through, but this is her time. She’s trying to find a life and her legs, and I’m gonna leave her to it. I can’t go back, not right now.” She lifted her eyes to his, and appreciation shone as she clearly struggled to keep her emotions under control. “But it’s enough. Knowing is enough.” With a nod she flashed a tremulous smile. “Thank you!” she breathed. “Thank you so much, War. This is . . . it’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.”
His face grew dark. “Well that’s fucking sad.”
“No.” She grabbed his hands. “It’s . . .” Struggling to get the words out, she had to swallow a few times and then take in a deep breath before she was able to say, “It’s so thoughtful. I can’t thank you enough. All this time, it felt like I was drowning. The not knowing, the wondering if I did more harm . . .”
“Hey, it’s alright.” He pulled her into another hug just because he had an excuse to. “She’s good. Your pack is good, and you don’t ever have to go back, not if you don’t want to. You can stay here.”
Suddenly, Nora tensed in his arms. “What?”
He replayed his words in his head, and when he found nothing wrong with them, he said again, “You can stay here, at the Fortress.”
“But,” she pulled out of his hold. “But there are no unmated females in your pack. You said we’re a distraction. If I stayed, I’d be trouble, especially with what you just had to do to the Imperial pack because of me. Other Alphas will hear about it. They could try to make an example out of me. They could come after me. If they do, what
then?”
War couldn’t contain the rage that flooded him. “Then they’ll fucking answer to me!”
“But . . . I’m not . . . I’m not yours, War. I’m not your mate; I’m not even a part of your pack.”
Her words didn’t ring true though because it felt like she belonged at the Fortress with his War Gods. It felt like she belonged with him. She’d become vital to his existence, and now that he knew she had no intention of going back to her pack, he planned on keeping her.
With every ounce of authority inside him, he unleashed an Alpha dictate. “You’re staying here, Nora.”
Spine snapping straight, Nora blinked at him in dazed shock a moment before she pulled her hands from his and asked, “Did . . . did you just try to issue an Alpha command on me?” When he didn’t answer, she breathed, “You did.”
Shoving out of his lap, she stood and gave him her back, but War shot to his feet and grabbed her shoulders. “Nora, I’m sorry. I just want you to stay.”
“But it didn’t work.”
Confused, he spun her to face him. “What?”
“It didn’t work,” she cried with a shake of her head before pinching her eyes closed and dropping her chin. “Your Alpha dictate didn’t work on me because I’m not—” she swallowed thickly “—I’m not a member of your pack.”
“Nora.”
“No!” she pulled away from him and backed up a few steps. “If I were a member of your pack, your command would have worked! I’d have been compelled to obey, but I wasn’t. I could leave right now; your order didn’t work on me. I don’t . . . I don’t belong here!”
“The fuck you don’t!”
“War,” she argued, “the truth can’t be denied.” Turning, she raced for the door, but before she could pull it open, a hand flattened on it and forced it closed.
Refusing to turn and face him, Nora pinched her eyes shut against the pain ripping through her and let her head fall forward until her forehead was pressed into the grainy oak of the door. “War,” she breathed quietly, “please!”
“No! You’re not fucking leaving, Nora. Not now, not ever.”
Dejected, she shook her head against the door. “I can’t stay.”
Gripping her shoulders, he implored, “You’re forgetting what you are.”
“I’m an idiot,” she replied instantly. “I thought this could work. I hoped.”
“You’re not an idiot, Nora. You’ve just been blinded by bullshit. You gotta think, baby. Who is immune to an Alpha decree?”
“War!” she groaned again, but this time War picked her up and carried her back to the couch.
Sitting with her straddling his thighs, he gripped her hips and squeezed. “Who, Nora? Answer me!”
“Non-members of his pack!”
Brows spearing down, War squeezed her hips again. “Who else?”
“Non-wolf shifters.”
“Who else?” he implored. “Come on, think!”
Shaking her head, Nora opened her mouth to say something and then stilled.
“Who else besides non-shifters and non-pack members can ignore an Alpha’s commands?”
Rounded eyes lifted to War’s. “His . . .”
“His what, baby?”
“His mate! His mate can ignore his commands.”
“Because an Alpha he needs an Alpha . . .”
“She,” Nora supplied. “He needs an Alpha She!”
“And what are you?”
Hand flattening on her chest, she rushed out, “I’m an Alpha She!”
He cupped her face with both hands and lowered to go eye-to-eye with her. “An Alpha She!” Possessiveness suffused every syllable as War declared, “And I’m keeping you.”
His words rocked her, and for long minutes she simply stared at him, her mouth partially open and her face blank.
“Did you hear me, Nora? I said I’m keeping you.”
“I don’t . . .” She shook her head hard and blinked up at him. “I don’t know what that means. Tell me what it means.”
“It means—” he fisted and unfisted his hands “—that I. Am. Keeping. You!”
“Like a prisoner?”
He shook his head once. “No, baby. As something else. Something more!”
Chapter 24
War didn’t know how to ask Nora to stay. He didn’t know how to apologize to her for not trusting her. He couldn’t even find the words to beg her to forgive his ultimate failure to keep her safe. How? How did he ask this Alpha She to overlook his shortcomings? Was there even a chance that she’d still consider being his?
Doing what he did best, he fell to his default mode of issuing commands.
“What do you mean something else? If I want to leave and you won’t let me, then that makes me a prisoner, War.”
“And do you?” When her delicate brows speared down, he asked, “Do you want to leave?”
Her indecision was evident as her eyes shifted to the side and she sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, but he had to know.
“Do you?” he demanded almost angrily. His wolf was thrashing around inside him like a caged animal. He didn’t like that War was even asking. Dumb bastard didn’t understand that it wasn’t happening. Even if Nora said she wanted to walk, there was no way War would let her. Not now, not after deciding she was his.
Watching her, waiting for her response, he was in awe again at just how beautiful she was. She didn’t even know it. If she had any idea of the power she held over him . . .
As she stared up at him, Nora’s eyes caught the dim sunset that filtered in through the window and exploded into jewels of deep, earthy, russet brown. She was killing him! The not knowing, the fear that she’d walk was doing shit to his insides that no threat of war or loss in battle had ever done. Sucking it up, he drew in a deep breath and laid it all out.
“I wanna keep you. For me. As mine,” he quickly amended.
Nora’s frown slipped, and her lips parted.
“My mark on you didn’t fade for a reason, Nora.” His hands on her hips pulled her closer to him as if he could physically persuade her. “Have you noticed?” he asked, looking at her throat. “My mark hasn’t faded, and I believe it’s because you’re meant to be mine. I want to keep you.”
At first she didn’t respond, and with each passing second, his fear that she’d deny him ratcheted higher until finally, mercifully, she murmured, “I want you to keep me.”
Not sure he’d heard right, he leaned closer and growled, “Wh-what did you say?”
“I . . .” She licked her lips and drew his intent gaze to her mouth before it jerked back up. “I want to stay, War. I want you to keep me.”
He was positive she didn’t understand what he meant. “I don’t mean as a guest, Nora.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“As a mate,” he snarled. “I want to make you mine. I want to claim you!”
Blinking up at him with those innocent eyes she said again, “Okay.”
“Stop saying that,” he thundered, and plowed his hand through his hair as he leaned closer to her. “Tell me what the hell you’re thinking!”
Nora eased back, and War cursed his temper when she climbed off him and backed up almost to the furthest wall. His eyes locked on her as he prepared to chase her down if she made a run for it.
“I like it here, War,” she began. “I like the pack, the Fortress, you.”
“What are you saying?” he growled.
“I’m saying that if you want to keep me . . .” She dipped her chin as a blush claimed her cheeks. Finding her bravery, she lifted her head and looked right at him. “If you want to keep me, you need to claim me.”
Just the thought of burying himself inside of her while he marked her as his had him so fucking hard he grew light-headed.
He knew she was sore, he knew she needed time, and he wanted to give it to her, he really did, but his wolf wasn’t having it.
Shoving slowly to his feet, he growled, “Come here.” The command was lac
ed with all the weight of his authority; he let it crack through the room like the lash of a whip, watching as Nora shivered under the power filling the room. Even from where he stood, he could see goose bumps rise all along her arms. Eyes never leaving his, she slowly walked to him. It was honestly the longest and most tense five seconds of his life. He was holding his wolf back by a fucking thread, and if he was honest, the man in him was just barely restrained too.
Nora came to stand before him, and looking up at him she seemed so damn vulnerable that it tore at his insides. Under some compulsion he didn’t understand, he felt the desperate need to give her something. Mind racing through all his possessions, every single one was quickly discarded as too insignificant. She deserved more than some mere trinket. She deserved everything. She’d defied Castamere and saved Reign. She’d tried to escape War, putting herself in danger to prove to him that she could be trusted, and then when she’d been taken, she’d fought like the Alpha She that she was. Undoubtedly, she was too good for even him, but he was keeping her. Period.
Dropping to his knees, he caught her hands and settled them on his bowed head. “I failed you once, Nora. I swear to you that if you accept me, it’ll never happen again.” Lifting his eyes to hers, he caught her hands and brought them to his lips. “I’ll put you first always. I’ll treat you like a queen deserves to be treated. I’ll love you and protect you, defend you and keep you safe until our days on this earth end.”
Her eyes shimmered with emotion, and at first he was afraid she’d back out. Instead, she nodded and whispered a tremulous, “I’d like that, my king.”
Rising to his feet, he caught her chin and leaned low, going almost nose-to-nose with her. “You agree? You agree to be my mate?”
“Yes,” she breathed. “It’d be my honor to be your mate, War Vox.”
“No,” he shook his head. “The honor is fucking mine.”
War lifted Nora into his arms and hurried back to his room. Once there, it took every ounce of his patience to remove her clothes from her body gently. Inside, his animal was thrashing around with the need to shred everything that covered her before slamming into her. War wasn’t going to let that happen. She deserved better, and he was going to give it to her.
Spoils of War Page 14