Blood Challenge (16 page)

Ellie turned her head to look at Davinia, wishing Golatia had felt up to witnessing the outcome of the moon-cycle claim. She would know how to advise Ellie on proceeding. Davinia shrugged, looking as clueless as she felt.

Rica turned to her. “Will you act as Lia’s Guardian?”

She moistened her lips. “What do I do?”

“Come stand beside her. Voice your opinion of the match.”

Ellie nodded and walked over to Lia. She paused. “Can I talk to her first?”

He nodded.

She drew the girl away from the two men waiting to mate with her, Rica, and her mother. “Why are you doing this?”

“Please, Lupina, support my claim.” Tears sparkled in her eyes. “My mother doesn’t want me to accept Lasile and Jan. She has plans…” Lia trailed off into silence before speaking again. “I want them.”

She regarded the girl with narrowed eyes, searching for a hint of artifice. This didn’t mesh with the threat left at the well. Her brow furrowed. “You weren’t threatening me, were you?”

Lia blinked. “Lupina?”

“Your message at the well. I thought it was a threat, but it was a warning, wasn’t it?”

She nodded. “I don’t know what they plan, but my mother isn’t content to let you remain Lupina. She wants me to have the position, or she vows Rica will not remain Alpha.” Lia bowed her head, muffling her voice. “I thought I wanted that too, until the moon-cycle claim. Lasile and Jan were right. I was a spoiled child, but I’ve grown up.” She lifted her head, and there was confidence in her stance. “I know what I want. I will not allow my mother to manipulate me.”

Ellie nodded, satisfied with Lia’s sincerity. She was concerned about what she had learned from the girl, but knew this wasn’t the time to focus on it. She returned to her post in front of Rica, and Lia stood by her side. “As Lia’s Guardian, I accept this match.” She didn’t know if those were the appropriate words, but they seemed to work.

Rica turned to the two men standing behind Lia. “Do you still want to claim Lia as your mate?”

Lasile nodded. “I do.”

“So do I.”

Rica looked satisfied. “The match is approved. Consummation will commence.” He tied the sash he had been holding around Lia’s waist quickly, without looking down. Then he took a step back, taking Ellie’s arm and bringing her with him. His voice was for her ears only. “They require space.”

She turned to tell him about Lia’s warnings, but Rica’s hard profile didn’t invite conversation. His gaze remained focused on Lia and her mates. With a sigh, and the resolve to warn him after the mating, she turned her attention to the lovers.

Lasile held Lia in his arms, with her back against his chest. Jan had knelt in front of them, with his arms around her waist. He leaned forward to inhale her scent before his tongue slid inside her pussy. The girl’s knees weakened, and only Lasile’s supporting arms kept her upright. She arched against Jan’s tongue as moans of pleasure escaped her.

Ellie slanted a look up at Rica from the corner of her eye. “I thought the consummation was perfunctory. Why are they drawing it out?”

He shrugged. “Perhaps they want her to enjoy it. Jan is probably ensuring her arousal before taking her. She has to accommodate both of them.”

As they whispered to each other, Jan moved away from her to lie on the ground. With Lasile’s help, Lia settled on top of him, taking his cock into her pussy. Lasile got onto his knees behind them and pressed his chest to Lia’s back. His hands came around her to cup her breasts.

Her voice lowered another octave, so that Rica had to lean down to hear her. “Why don’t they use birth control?”

“The Pack must continue. Children ensure that.” His expression was brooding. “I had hoped we would have conceived by now.”

She refused to look at him, for fear of him seeing the same desire reflected in her eyes. She settled for shaking her head and focusing on the three lovers.

Jan thrust into Lia, who was crying out her pleasure. Her body trembled, but Lasile was there to hold her up. As Jan thrust into her and cried out, Lasile and Lia’s voice joined his in a mingled howl of pleasure. All three were visibly tremulous as Lasile got to his feet and lifted Lia before taking Jan’s place on the ground. She straddled him, while Jan supported her this time.

Seconds after Lasile began thrusting into her pussy, Lia must have climaxed. Her shout echoed around the clearing, only dying down as his thrusts increased in tempo. Soon, he spent himself, and the three collapsed to the ground, with Lia between them. The two men held her with obvious tenderness, and their movements were gentle when they rose a few minutes later and helped her to her feet.

Belia had watched the union, and Ellie’s gaze settled on her when she raised her voice. “You are no longer my child. I am ashamed to call myself a member of the Pack this night.” She glared at her daughter before turning her back and stalking away. Several others separated themselves from the circle and followed her.

Their message seemed clear to Ellie. They were turning their back on the ways of the Pack. If they didn’t acknowledge the validity of Lia’s mating, what other traditions would they disregard? Would they challenge Rica face-to-face, or would they use less honorable means to try to remove him as Alpha?

* * * * *

They hadn’t made love before going to sleep, as had been the pattern since Rica said he loved her, and she hadn’t responded. He had turned away without speaking. Ellie couldn’t help noticing Rica moved away from her each time she brushed against him. It took her a long time to fall asleep, for the weight of her thoughts, and she slept fitfully, trapped in unrelenting nightmares that never completed before morphing into the next.

When she first heard the crackling sound, she assumed it was a new nightmare. It was only when the stench of smoke reached her, causing her to cough, that she realized the house was on fire. Her eyes snapped open, and she sat up.

Rica was coughing too. He sat up beside her, and his hands skimmed over her. “You aren’t injured?”

She shook her head, and then realized he wouldn’t be able to see the movement from the haze of smoke in the bedroom. “I’m fine, but we have to get out. The house is on fire.”

A coughing fit seized her, and she was in no shape to assist Rica when he got up and lifted her from the bed. She tried to pull away, knowing he couldn’t be burdened with her weight when he was coughing as violently as she was, but his arms tightened. He held her for a brief second before releasing her.

“Get down on the floor. Less smoke there.”

Stop, drop, and roll
played through her mind, distant memories from grade school. Ellie got on her hands and knees, wincing at the heat in the boards. The place was an inferno.

She looked up when she heard Rica curse. “What’s wrong?” She had to yell to be heard over the roar of the fire, and the action irritated her throat anew, triggering another coughing fit.

“The window has been nailed shut.” He cursed again before crouching on his haunches. “This fire isn’t an accident, Ellie. Someone planned this. Someone nailed shut our window while we were at the clearing last night.” He stopped speaking as a paroxysm of coughing consumed him.

She nodded. “Belia.”

“I’m going to break the window. I want you to get as far away from the flying glass as you can.”

Ellie scurried across the room on her hands and knees. She pressed her back against the wall, but recoiled with a cry. The wood was so hot that she knew she would have blisters on her skin when she removed her cotton nightshirt.

Rica cleared the items of his nightstand and lifted the heavy oak piece. He grunted with the effort as he swung it against the window. The fire didn’t drown out the tinkling of the glass as it hit the floor. The splintering of the boards in the window made a cracking sound, which intensified when he hit the window again.

He snatched the comforter from the bed and wrapped it around his arm in a thick layer before clearing the glass and broken wood from the ruined window. He gestured to her. “Hurry.” Although he must have shouted the word, it was barely audible over the suddenly louder fire.

She got to her feet and bent as low as she could, while moving with as much speed as she could muster. She heard a crash behind her and paused to look, seeing the wall she had been crouching near begin to crumble. A large chunk of wood fell to the spot where she had been, bringing the flames into their bedroom. The floor ignited immediately.

She reached Rica, who picked her up less than gently and lifted her through the window. “Get away from here. The shop is a powder keg. If the flames reach it, there’s sufficient wood to make the fire grow large enough to burn the village.”

“Rica.” She reached for him, but he pushed her away.

“Run, dammit. I’m right behind you.”

She turned and ran, finding the snow a blessed relief to her bare feet that had absorbed so much heat from the floor.

She went several feet before realizing Rica wasn’t behind her. Ellie turned around in time to see a section of the outer wall caving into the bedroom. It was falling in the direction of the window, where Rica’s arms were visible for just a moment. They disappeared when he seemed to throw himself back, as if trying to elude the section of burning material crashing toward him. His cry of pain rent the air as the wall collapsed onto him.

She didn’t think twice before turning and running back to him. The closer she got to the cabin, the harder it was to breathe. The air was hot and stifling when she reached the window.

She screamed when she looked into the bedroom and saw a section of burning log pinning Rica’s leg. It was too large for him or her to lift, even if they worked together.

Tears burned in her eyes, but not from the smoke. A fragment of the wall had fallen across Rica’s chest, and the skin was a horrible black in places. He must have pushed off the piece that had landed on him, but not in time to avoid those awful injuries.

She gripped his hand. “Rica, can you hear me?”

His face was blackened with ash and debris, and the sclera of his eyes was particularly bright when he opened them. “Get out,” he said in a slurred voice. “Whole building’s going to collapse. Tell them to douse the shop.”

She shook her head. “I’m not leaving without you.”

“Go.” He probably meant the command to sound forceful, but it emerged as little more than a weak whisper.

She didn’t hesitate to support her weight on the window frame and lift herself back into the room. Ellie brushed aside the pain from slivers of glass that embedded into her hands, legs, and feet upon her reentry. She knelt beside Rica, who seemed to be having trouble keeping his eyes open. She touched his brow, wincing at the heat. “Rica, listen to me.”

“Dammit, Ellie, get out. I don’t want you to die in here.”

“I’m not leaving you.” She shook her head for emphasis, although she doubted he saw the movement. “I can’t lift the log.”

“I know. Save yourself.” The slur was more prominent now.

She slapped him on the cheek, as hard as she could. His eyes opened, and he looked incredulous. “Did you—”

“Focus. I need you to shift. It’s the only way to get you out from under the log and out the window.” She forced herself to sound confident. “I can lift you in wolf-form, but you have to transform. I can get us both out, but I need your help.”

“Can’t. Too injured.” His eyes closed again, and she was alarmed to note his chest was barely rising and falling.

She slapped him again, this time on the other cheek. “You stay with me. I’m not going to lose you. Now change, dammit.”

“I don’t have the strength.” The words were remarkably clear, as was the hint of defeat underlying his tone. “I don’t want you to die too.”

“Don’t you dare give up. What kind of Alpha are you, surrendering like this?” His eyes had closed again. “Open your eyes, Rica. I love you, and I’m not going to lose you. Either we both go, or we both stay. Do you want to be responsible for my death?” If he had been more rational, the approach wouldn’t have worked, but she was desperate. “Do you hear me? Change!”

He seemed to be struggling in the beginning, but then it happened quickly. With a scream of pain that turned to a howl, Rica’s male form morphed into his wolf counterpart. He had obviously expended the last of his energy in the transformation, but at least he was free of the log that had pinned him.

She gritted her teeth and wrapped her arms around him. Ellie cursed and cried as she tried to lift him. Rica had slipped into unconsciousness and was no help to her, but that also meant he didn’t realize she couldn’t fulfill her end of the bargain.

No, she refused to let him die. Somehow, she found the strength to lift him from the floor and stagger to the window. A sob escaped her when she reached the window. How was she going to lift him high enough to clear the frame?

“Ellie, can you hear me?” Viggo was there in front of the window, as if summoned. His expression was grave as he held out his arms. “Is that Rica?”

She nodded. “He’s hurt. Help him, please.” Viggo leaned in the window to take him, but for some reason, didn’t lift him from her. “What are you waiting for? Take him.”

“Let go, Ellie. I have him now.” His tone was soothing.