Fated Betrayal: A Paranormal Erotic Romance (The Twisted Destiny Saga Book 2) (10 page)

“She is fine,” Nathanial said, sensing his distress. “She knows that you are safe as well.”

Ryan’s gaze snapped to his. “You read her?”

“Yes. It was necessary to prevent her from killing Luca.”

Cora had tried to kill Luca?
“Why? He deserves to die.”

“He is my son, my responsibility.”

A look passed between them and Ryan knew what Nathanial was really telling him.
He
would kill Luca himself.

“I need to go to her…and my pack,” Ryan murmured, climbing to his feet and stalking through the living room towards the front door. The awful revelations about his father, his mother, and Nathanial were affecting him more than he would have liked. He could feel emotion permeating his actions and he fought to think clearly and to get a grip.

“Not yet,” Nathanial said, suddenly in front of him again, in a flash of vampire speed. He blocked Ryan’s path to the front door.

Ryan growled low in his throat, a warning. A mercy.
Fuck, I can’t believe I’m showing this guy mercy. The man that murdered my father and destroyed my life for the last two hundred years.
Ryan could barely admit it, but he knew why he’d resisted attacking Nathanial. He felt sympathy for his plight—for what he’d told him about his mother and father. And he knew he’d been telling the truth. A wolf could sense when someone was lying. He hated that he felt anything other than hate and rage towards the guy. And he would never admit it to Nathanial or anyone else. He still hated him. But, still, he couldn’t bring himself to exact the revenge that he’d always promised himself he would.
Dammit!

“I promised the princess I would show her where you were.
After
we talk.”

“Talk? That’s
all
we’ve been doing.”

Nathanial shook his head. “We must discuss what I can sense you have been trying to avoid.”

“And what the hell is that?”

“The Dark Realm.”

He met Nathanial’s intense gaze.

Fucking hell.

CHAPTER 13

Cora stood before the full-length mirror in the bathroom, her tank top pulled up to her bra, as she caressed her pregnant belly. She’d thought she’d been imagining things at first, but as she stared at herself in the mirror, she realized that she hadn’t. Her belly had grown substantially. It was now noticeable. She looked about four months pregnant, yet, it had only been a few weeks since she and Ryan had conceived.
Oh my God. How quickly is this baby going to come to term? How long are wolf pregnancies? Shit, I need to ask Josh.
She lowered her tank top sadly as she realized who she really needed to ask, who she really needed with her right now. Ryan.

“I miss you, baby,” she whispered to herself.

It had taken her hours to settle the wolves after they’d failed to bring Ryan back with them. Between her and Shaye, they’d managed to convince them that Ryan was in no danger. Trying to explain to them how she knew that had been difficult, to say the least. But she
did
know. She had felt Nathanial’s sincerity when he’d breached her mind earlier. It had been more than a day now and Ryan still wasn’t back, nor had Nathanial contacted her to let her know where he was. She was becoming anxious. She just wanted Ryan back with her.

She sighed heavily and walked out of the bathroom, back into the bedroom inside the wolf compound. She was surprised to see David there, perched on the edge of her and Ryan’s bed.

“What are you doing in here?” she demanded. “This is mine and Ryan’s bedroom, David!”

“I brought you a tea. That’s all,” he said, holding out a mug to her.

Her eyes narrowed with suspicion as she approached him.

“Your father asked me to protect you—in every sense of the word. This will help you to relax. It will be good for the baby.”

“I thought it helped to restore strength.”

He smiled sweetly at her. “It has many purposes, princess.”

She nodded and sat beside him at the foot of the bed and took the mug from him. “Fine.”

“That was some power you unleashed the other night,” he said as he watched her drink the tea. “I think everyone was shocked—wolves and vampires alike—when you blew through the mansion doors, like they were nothing more than paper.”

Cora chuckled. “The best part was the look on Michael’s face when he landed on his ass after I shot him with a bolt of power.”

“It has been too long since he has come up against magic stronger than his,” he said, watching her rest the mug on her lap. “Drink up, Cora. You need to relax for the baby.”

“You’re right. I promised Ryan I would take care of our son while he was away,” she said, bringing the mug to her lips and drinking the tea quickly.

“Cora?” he spoke, his tone of voice different now.

She turned to him and a warm haze washed over her. She felt as though she was no longer connected to her own body, or to the world around her. Her conscious mind began to fade away quickly, as though she were dreaming, while still awake.

* * * * *

David watched closely as Cora’s eyes glazed over with that familiar haze.

“Everything okay, my sweet?” he asked softly. He made sure to keep his gaze steady as he gently took the mug from her and placed it down on the floor beside him.

She nodded placidly. “Wonderful,” she said, smiling at him.

He tucked her silky, black hair behind her right ear and leaned into her, his lips just inches from hers. “Would you like me to kiss you now?” he whispered.

“Yes, I would like that.”

His lips brushed hers, gently, at first.

But, as soon as she responded, he deepened the kiss. Her mouth opened for him and he thrust his tongue inside, taking her ravenously. Their tongues dueled wildly and he heard her moaning into his mouth.

He pulled back and commanded, “Let me see your gorgeous breasts.”

She lifted her tank top over her head and then reached around and unclasped her bra. As soon as her breasts sprang free, his mouth was on her, tasting her left peak. She moaned in pleasure, his tongue lapping at her nipple and coaxing it to a stiff point of arousal, as his hands kneaded her sensitive flesh.

“Good girl. I love your sweet little moans. Now…I want you wet for me, my sweet.”

“Yes,” she breathed.

He smiled victoriously and slid a hand into her leather pants. He pushed her panties aside and drew his finger across her slit. And, this time, she was wet and ready for him. “Mmm…perfect. You want me to take you, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me, Cora. Say the words.”

“I want you to take me, David.”

“Mmm…I want that too,” he said, flicking her clit and causing her to buck against him. He pulled his hand away and told her, “But first, I have a gift for you.”

“What is it?” she asked excitedly.

“A mark. In the human realm, you call it a tattoo. It’s imbued with powerful faerie magic. It will protect your child, my sweet.”

He pressed his hand gently to her pregnant belly.
She is already so far along. It’s her power. It is bringing the baby to term quickly. I must act now because, from the looks of it, she could give birth to the cursed hybrid child any day now.

She flinched as he burned the mark into her. But she didn’t pull away. She couldn’t, because he was willing her not to. “Good girl.”

As he worked his spell on her, he tried hard to resist the urge to lick her gorgeous breasts that were just inches from his mouth, tempting him, taunting him. There would be plenty of time for that. He pulled back after a few moments and gazed triumphantly at the glowing, silver star now etched into her skin. He watched the glow fade as the magic absorbed into her. And then he sat back and told her, “You will not remember me anointing you with this gift, princess. Do you understand?”

“Yes, David.”

“Good girl,” he said, cupping both her breasts in his hands. “Now, where were we?”

A sudden, aggressive knock on the door startled him. He pulled away from her and thrust his hand at the door, locking it with his faerie magic.

“Cora, why is this door locked? Open it! It’s Josh!”

David rolled his eyes at the aggravating interruption. He took Cora’s hand in his and told her, “Get dressed, my sweet. I sat with you and we talked. That is all. Repeat it back to me.”

“You sat with me and we talked. That’s all.”

“Yes. Very good. That is correct.”

He watched her get dressed and sit back down on the edge of the bed.

He stood up and clicked his fingers at her. She snapped out of his trance immediately.

As she shook her head to dispel her disorientation, he used the opportunity of her distraction to thrust his hand back at the door, releasing the magical lock he had placed on it.

The door opened instantly and Josh burst in.

He stopped short when he saw Cora sitting on the edge of the bed with David standing over on the other side of the room, nowhere near her.

“What’s wrong, wolf?” David asked.

Josh growled at him and turned his attention to Cora and asked her, “Everything okay in here, sweetheart?”

“Yes, fine,” she said, smiling.

“You’re sure?” he pressed her.

“She just told you as much. You are paranoid, wolf.”

* * * * *

Josh’s eyes narrowed at David. The goddamn faerie was asking for it. He wanted nothing more than to rip his fucking head from his body.

But he knew he couldn’t. The asshole was connected to the King of the White Realm. Killing him would be a huge deal that would come back on all of them, especially Ryan. No, he couldn’t do something so rash, as much as he
really
wanted to, because there was something off about the asshole. He was sure of it. He just didn’t know the ins and outs of it yet.

“I need to talk with Cora,” he told him.

“Don’t let me stop you.”

“In private,” he snapped.

“Princess?” David asked, looking to Cora.

“Yes. Please leave us.”

David failed to hide his irritation at being asked to leave. It was all over his face, much to Josh’s satisfaction. He watched as the asshole brushed past him and walked out, shutting the door behind him.

Josh stayed by the door and made himself comfortable against it.

“You can come a little closer, Josh. I’m not going to hurt you,” Cora teased him.

Josh shook his head. “Only Ryan can be close to you in your bedroom. I’m forbidden—as are all the other wolves. That day when you were in pain from your migraine attacks? It took him hours to get over even that and it had been an emergency.”

“I see. No problem. I understand.”

“You shouldn’t let that faerie into your bedroom.”

“Excuse me? Are you accusing me of something?”

“No, of course not. I trust you. Ryan trusts you. It’s
him
.”

“He’s tasked with protecting me right now because of my father’s aggravating stubbornness. That’s all, Josh. But I know how wolves are. I won’t let him inside here again. Okay?”

“Good. Yeah. That’ll put my mind at ease.”

“You’re a good friend to Ryan.”

“He’s a brother to me. And, as his mate, you’re like my sister—to the entire pack, actually. I’m saying this for
your
protection, too.”

Cora smiled. “I’ve missed all of you.” She looked down sadly as she said, “And I miss
him
, Josh.”

“I know. Me too.”

She let out a tired yawn. “Sorry, I don’t know why I’m so tired. It’s probably the pregnancy.”

Josh studied her with concern.
No, it’s more than that. Something isn’t right here. I need to speak to Shaye. Dammit, why did she have to leave so soon? Something about an errand to run for Ryan. What damned errand?
“Get some rest, sweetheart. I need to leave the compound for a few hours. I’ll leave Roy and Ben in charge. If you need anything, let them know.”

“Okay,” she said, lying down on the bed. “I’m just going to sleep for a little while.”

Josh watched worriedly as she fell asleep immediately. He left the room and closed the door behind him.
Shit, I need to get to Shaye ASAP.

CHAPTER 14

Luca ripped his fangs from the neck of the gorgeous, blonde human who was now nothing more than another corpse that he’d drained dry. He pushed her off the bed and her limp body fell hard upon the three others littering the bedroom floor.

“Better now?” Michael’s voice came from the doorway suddenly.

“No,” Luca snarled. “I need more to kill.”

After fleeing the vampire mansion, Michael had taken Luca to
his
home. Luca had passed out several times on the way over and when they’d arrived Michael had had to force-feed him his first human. It’d taken him draining seven humans of every drop of their blood for him to recover from his father’s vicious attack. And, since he’d recovered his strength, he’d been in a state of barely-contained rage. Even brutally murdering several humans had done little to subdue his anger at what his father had done to him. Draining him of his blood? Another vampire? His son, even? It was the ultimate disrespect. He couldn’t wrap his head around it.

“I have Vivian here, if you would like to take her now.”

Luca shook his head. “I am not in the mood to fuck, Michael. I need to hunt. I need to
kill
.”

It was a startling statement for a vampire. Feeding and fucking went hand in hand. And Luca had just fed several times over. He should have been beyond ready and raring to go. Instead, all he could think about was his murderous bloodlust, the overwhelming need to kill and destroy everything in his path, to work out his frustrations. He would leave a trail of bodies in his wake and he would make his murderous rampage as public as possible. How would his father like that? He would hate it, because his actions would expose their species in the human realm.
Let’s see you stop me this time, father.

Last night, his father had appeared out of nowhere. No warning, or anything. He’d gone straight for him, ripping through his flesh and forcefully taking every drop of blood that Luca had taken from Ryan. He’d left him for dead. And, if that wasn’t enough, he’d actually rescued the damned wolf!
Unbelievable!

“We must be cautious right now, Luca. A hunt will expose us. Use the ones I bring you to alleviate your rage.”

Luca let out a frustrated snarl. “You try my patience, Michael!”

“And
you
try mine with your lack of self-control. We will have our revenge soon enough.”

Luca ran his fingers through his hair with frustration. He knew Michael was right. They had to be very careful while Nathanial was in the human realm. There was no vampire more powerful than him. “Fine, you are right,” he admitted, seething.

“I have my wolves out searching for him and Ryan.”

“Good. As soon as they find them we will
kill
them!”

“Only when Nathanial becomes weak enough for us to stand any chance of besting him. The longer the Vampire King is away from the Dark Realm, the weaker his power will become. But the wolf will still remain a formidable threat.”

Luca scoffed. “I can take Ryan.”

“Don’t be so impetuous. His strength only grows, Luca. And, as long as he remains in such close proximity Nathanial, that will be the case. They are both the rightful Kings of the Dark Realm and, as such, they are stronger together. Fortunately for us, Nathanial is not used to the human realm, so he will still become weaker in spite of
his
proximity to Ryan.”

Luca growled. “I will not wait too long, Michael.”

“It will not be long. Nathanial has already expelled a great deal of power through his teleportation from the Dark Realm and during his rescue of Ryan. Remain patient. I promise you, Nathanial and Ryan
will
fall. And then, you and I will
take the Dark Realm.”