Darkest Temptation

by Rachel Van Dyken

  “I’m sorry.” Mason tried again. “Hurting you, making you feel anything other than the most important person in my existence is inexcusable.”

  I nodded as he tugged the sheet away and very slowly tilted my head toward him.

  Icy blue eyes locked with mine as he whispered, “I’m responsible for these.” He gently ran his tongue up my neck as a tear collided with him, over and over again. He pressed his tongue, his mouth to the wet salty spots and then hesitated. His eyes held a sadness I only knew because of the quivering of the tether between us, as if his heart was skipping beats because it wasn’t strong enough to go on.

  “What’s wrong?” I whispered, afraid that it was me. That I was the wrong in his life.

  He gave his head a shake, the dark pieces of hair falling against my face, I wound them up in my fingers and flinched when the red pieces touched my skin and caused an electric jolt to shoot through my system.

  His expression was grave. “The red represents the sin. Whenever another immortal touches it, it’s a reminder.”

  “A reminder?” I whispered.

  His forehead touched mine. “Not to listen to our feelings, but to listen to the truth.”

  “What’s truth?” Frustration welled up within me. “I feel like my entire life I’ve been living a lie, as cliché as that sounds, and now I’m supposed to blindly trust. Why? Give me one reason. Why?”

  “Because…” It was as if a switch of light turned on Mason’s face as he almost glimmered before me. “The Creator is good, and He allows us… the great privilege… of a choice.”

  Instantly ashamed, I looked away. “Would you have chosen this though? This life? You were sick as a boy. That’s why they gave you my blood, angel blood. Would you have chosen differently, Mason? Given your…” I knew it was a touchy subject, but I was his mate. If we couldn’t talk about it, then we couldn’t be together. “…given your first mate dying? The life of solitude you lived?”

  “Listen—” Mason almost growled the word out., “—very carefully,” He cupped my face with both hands, the warmth of his palms seeping into my skin. “There is nothing I would do different. There is no better life in existence than life in your arms, than life…” He pressed a hot palm to my chest. “…shared with this heart.”

  I didn’t realize I was crying until his tongue was on my cheek again.

  And then the rest of my clothes were discarded as his tongue sought every other pleasure it could find, while I bucked beneath each touch like he was searing me, marking me more and more, and when he bit into my thigh, all I saw was light, goodness…

  Us.

  The tether between us pulled tight, strengthened.

  “You are my mate, made for me, since the beginning.”

  “Yes,” I agreed as our bodies moved together, as he took me on another wave of pleasure, as I felt his thickness inside of me, reminding me, that I wasn’t alone anymore.

  That I had a partner.

  That I wasn’t abandoned.

  Betrayed.

  I was his.

  I was an us.

  I soared with him to higher heights and swore then and there that I would die to protect the wolf I married. I would die to protect the heart he carried inside his chest, the one that pumped so valiantly for his people, for me, for humans.

  I would die.

  With no regrets.

  And I fell asleep, with a smile on my lips.

  MASON

  It was time.

  I felt it in my bones like I had when I was a lad.

  The same hunger that forced me to crawl on my hands and knees to the window and beg The Creator to make me the Great Wolf.

  He’d granted my wish.

  It had dire consequences.

  I still had no idea what my mate was capable of, and yet, I knew it would be all right. I just didn’t know how. I trusted the fact that I had the knowledge of the stars in my make-up — the way that Gadreel had left it. I just wished I knew how to access all the information in a way that would help me regain the trust and reverence of my people.

  I knew I had my warriors.

  But I did not have the rest of the people.

  The minute I turned against my true nature was the minute they’d called me weak. It had nearly killed me.

  To call a wolf weak, to hear it throughout the world in harsh whispers and discontent, as if I was a poison set about the wolf race, to end them all…

  It had shaken my already broken heart and nearly left me for dead.

  Until Cassius.

  Ethan.

  Stephanie.

  Begrudgingly, I even admitted Alex’s sarcasm turned my focus to wanting to murder him more than the people who doubted my strength, my ability to be the Great Wolf, the Alpha.

  I rolled to my side and watched her sleep.

  My mate.

  My goddess.

  My vampire.

  What beautiful blood she had running through her veins. What an impossible task we had set before us.

  My mind — my entire body — begged me to default, to put on my torn jeans, to grab my flip-flops from the Goodwill, and put my hair in a ponytail. To march downstairs and hunt some berries, to suffer a crunchy pinecone-filled breakfast.

  My body wanted me to be punished.

  My soul demanded it.

  My mind told me I was no longer worthy.

  But my blood — her blood — whispered, “You are.”

  And for the first time in my existence, I chose to believe something other than the negative thoughts in my own brain.

  I trusted the blood.

  I trusted her.

  I closed my eyes. This was so different, living a life of depravity made me feel — better. Any wolf would see me and see the suffering. The judgement had never been narcissism, only pity for my state.

  It had helped me stay in that condition, their pity.

  And so I’d stayed.

  Warriors had stopped begging my return.

  And the whispers stopped.

  And I was lost.

  Because when you lose your purpose, you lose your very soul.

  Mine had not been returned to me, until I faced what I was, what I was becoming with her.

  I pushed the jet-black hair from her perfect face. She was even pretty when she slept, her earth-toned skin, the kind formed by the hands of The Creator alone shone in all its glory. It’s dizzying pieces of onyx twinkled with delight.

  Maybe they’d be so distracted by her beauty they would not remember the old tales.

  But I knew some of them were still alive. Some of them would know.

  One of them for sure.

  My father.

  SERENITY

  I jolted awake, a deep apprehension and sadness assaulting me. I turned on my side as Mason slowly put his feet over the edge of the bed and hung his head in his hands, his angel-like hair falling down his muscular back.

  I wanted to make it better.

  Had to.

  “Mason.” I touched his shoulder.

  His hand connected with mine; he squeezed so tight my fingers went white before I scooted closer to him and pressed my breasts up against his back. “Fifteen more minutes.”

  “Fifteen more minutes will nae change it.”

  “No,” I said softly, “but it might take some of your stress away.”

  He was wound up so tense I wasn’t even sure a practiced masseuse could get the knots out. I slowly kneaded his back and then wrapped my body around his, straddling his naked lap with extreme purpose as he lifted his parted lips to mine. “You mean to seduce me?”

  I moved against him then whispered, “I think I already did.”

  He cupped my ass and positioned himself at my entrance. “You sure about that?”

  I looked down. “Yeah, Mason, I’m pretty sure.”

  He growled in response as he thrust into me. Had he not been hanging onto my body I would have fallen backward off the bed and cracked my head. With each drive, I felt his
stress lighten, so much that, when his body strained taut, I said with a firm voice, “Give it to me.”

  He hesitated, his eyes unfocused.

  “Or at least share it with your mate, Mason. Let me help.”

  “It’s my cross to bear.”

  “Now…” I took control, slowing his rhythm down as I pressed a kiss to his mouth. “…it’s ours.”

  “Aye.”

  I didn’t comment on the sudden Scottish brogue or the fact that he didn’t seem to recognize the fact that he was under so much stress that he’d reverted back to what was natural.

  “Ours,” I repeated.

  “Forever.” His gravelly promise against my tongue.

  MASON

  She fell asleep across my chest, this strange, beautiful creature that I knew I didn’t deserve, that I hadn’t even wanted, but would die to keep, to protect.

  My gut clenched as my heart sank.

  What if?

  That’s all I had.

  What if?

  I couldn’t.

  I wouldn’t go through it again.

  Losing anyone in my life that meant the world, meant my existence, and in such a short time, everything pointed to her, to her essence, to the make of who she was, and I couldn’t separate the fact that I needed to be Alpha, needed to be Wolf King in order to unite us with the fact that I had to do it with her by my side.

  My only weakness.

  Vulnerability.

  My greatest and most valuable risk.

  Her lips were red then, like she’d just chewed her lower lip, thinking of the way I’d done the same a few minutes before, and I selfishly wondered if she thought of me, of the way I tasted her, of the way I spread her legs wide and licked her core like she was my own personal meal.

  Of the way I pierced her skin.

  The blood trickling into my mouth.

  The way I owned her.

  Marked her.

  I gripped her hips again as she moaned and knew I would never linger when it came to claiming her, to wanting her, because she was in my blood, my soul. I just had to know she would be safe.

  She had to be safe.

  Every single old fear I’d ever harbored floated to the surface in a wave of anxiety that crushed my spirit, my soul.

  I kissed her brow and quietly got up and went downstairs to think.

  I had to be away from her because with her, all I saw was her.

  By the time I made it into the living room I knew my thoughts were not private, that Cassius knew my fear. He was sitting by the fire looking like he had a lot on his mind, on his soul, the way mine was heavy.

  “You’re up late.” I took a seat.

  Without flinching, he said, “I don’t sleep much anymore.” His eyes were grave as he looked at me and then back at the fire. “Fear is not welcome here.”

  I hung my head. “I haven’t known true fear until this moment in time.”

  “Fear will only breed hate,” he said gravely.

  “Hate?” I paced in front of him. “I don’t understand.”

  He stood, and his eyes flashed white before he said quickly, “Not now you don’t, but you will.”

  He disappeared in a flash of light, and I was left in front of the crackling fire place wondering if everything would ever feel safe again.

  If anything would feel normal.

  Or if I was cursed to feel the weight of the universe on my shoulders right along with its secrets.

  I never understood the sheer horror at knowing the secrets around me, the way the earth moaned and ached for the angels to return home almost as much as they themselves ached.

  My chest was in a constant state of pain, and I now knew why.

  It was the same aching pain the Watchers felt on a daily basis.

  Passed down to me.

  It wasn’t just physical pain.

  I knew what that felt like.

  No, this was emotional turmoil that wouldn’t go away; it was the deepest separation I’d ever experienced. It only faded away when I was with Serenity, when I was united with love.

  When I feared, it pierced my heart.

  I looked into the flames as dawning realization shook me to my core. The Watchers were not tempted to do evil in order to regain the attention of The Creator. No, it was much worse than that.

  They’d been walking around for millennia with a broken heart.

  The thought haunted me as I took a seat, and when Serenity joined me hours later, laying her head against my chest, and peppered kisses down my skin, when I felt peace in her arms, I knew.

  The war wasn’t over.

  It had only just begun.

  SERENITY

  “It’s only a few days.” Mason took one look at my bag and smirked, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he watched me with interest.

  “What?” I looked down at the duffle bag Hope had given me that morning. “This isn’t mine.”

  “It has your name on the tag.” He grinned wider.

  I huffed out a breath. “Hope gave it to me.”

  “Likely story.” Aggravating wolf! “That’s enough clothes for a few weeks.”

  “Well I would have gone back to my apartment, but somebody wouldn’t let me.” I gave him a challenging glare.

  His smile fell. “My job is to protect you. I still don’t know who’s after you. If they can track you because you return, no, you won’t be seeing your apartment anytime soon. Everything you need is here.”

  I crossed my arms. “I can’t just hide forever.”

  “We’re not hiding.” His jaw flinched. “There’s a war, Serenity, and I can’t focus on leading my people, on even meeting with them, if I think for one second you aren’t safe.”

  His eyes blazed blue as his chest rose and fell. Even now, I wondered if he realized that his right hand was more claw than man, that the heat emitting from him was anything but normal, but he didn’t seem to notice. His eyes had laser-like focus, and it was all on me.

  I nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

  “Damn it.” He turned around as if he was frustrated then stomped up to me and slammed me against the wall, his hands cupping my head so I didn’t get hurt. “I don’t want you to be sorry. I don’t want to order you around. I just—” Pain laced his eyes as he searched my face. “—I will not lose you.”

  He didn’t even say can, as if it was an option.

  It was a vow. An oath.

  “I won’t.” He devoured my mouth, sucking the life out of my body as his hands palmed my ass, one talon digging a bit into my flesh. “I won’t.” He growled again against my mouth.

  I pulled back. “I promise, Mason.”

  He still looked worried as I slid down the wall out of his arms then side-stepped him and grabbed my bag. “So how do we do this?”

  “What?”’ His confused expression was priceless.

  “This.” I waved my hands around “Does Cassius just fly us over there?”

  He barked out a laugh. “Well typically, we take a plane, but maybe Cassius wouldn’t mind a little transport…”

  “Drop dead,” came Cassius’ voice, and then he was in the room, arms crossed, expression haunted. “First class not good enough for you? Private plane? Name it, and I’ll see it done.”

  My eyes widened with each word that came out.

  Mason just shrugged. “She wants to fly.”

  I grinned at the idea.

  “I’m not flying you to Scotland.” Cassius rolled his eyes, looking more human than I’d seen him in weeks. His dark hair went white as he sighed and opened up his arms as wings appeared, and then he muttered out a “Damn wolf…” before nodding to me and saying, “Touch a feather.”

  “Really?” I tried to play it cool, but I’d been wanting to touch his feathers, to feel the texture between my fingers for days. “Any feather?”

  “Or all of them.” Cassius grinned.

  Mason growled like there was something I didn’t know about touching the feathers.

&nb
sp; I took a step forward and reached out to one of the plumes that curved down the wing; it shuddered under my grasp then wrapped its velvety tentacles around my finger and pulsed with my heart. It was warm. It felt… like heaven, like I never wanted to let go.

  “She’s going to ask to touch them all the time now,” Mason grumbled.

  “She’s very gentle.” Cassius winked at me. I knew he was trying to make Mason irritated, which proved true when Mason gripped one of the feathers with one hand and smacked Cassius with the other.

  I gasped.

  Was that allowed?

  Hitting an archangel?

  Hitting Cassius? Basically, the king of the entire immortal race?

  Cassius simply smirked and then nodded. “Now. That’s settled. Let’s go.”

  “Wait!” I said in a panicked voice. “Do I have to do anything?”

  Both of them stared at me like I was an idiot.

  I glared. “You know, like hold my breath… close my eyes…”

  “It will be seconds,” Cassius said gently, “Just enjoy the ride.” He looked over to Mason and grinned widely. “I know I will.”

  “That’s enough.” Mason growled as Cassius’ laughter filled the room, his eyes completely white as his wings curved around us.

  And just like that.

  I was weightless.

  MASON

  All too soon, we were in Edinburgh near the castle. Cassius landed between one of the least popular closes of the Royal Mile. My blood boiled as memories haunted me, of the sick that used to roam the streets, the plague that went underground for so long, the people living on top of people. The sheer disgust of the city, the rank disease that ran through it, years of no sunlight for some humans only to die in the dark alone without ever feeling the sun’s heat on their faces.

  I turned my head to Serenity.

  She saw the city with eyes that were new. Like a tourist, it seemed she wanted to take everything in, bad enough that the minute her eyes landed on a tartan, she started moving.

  I jerked her backward and shook my head.

  Cassius’ wings were tucked away as the three of us walked into the sunlight in the street.

  Immediately, a few locals looked our way.

  I tried to stay calm.