Laying Claim to the Soul (2 page)

“I’ll not refuse Chax or any of my mates. Neither you nor anyone else will stop us from joining!” Tabatha slowly moved so her back was to the kitchen door.

Lilith snarled and scraped her claws against the countertop. The screeching sound reminded Tabatha of one of her school teachers who used to scratch her nails on the chalk board. It was a sound that had always made her cringe.

Tabatha’s breast burned where the dragon lay. Her rope slipped open as a fiery sensation traced up her chest to her neck. She sensed the dragon watching Lilith.

“My son needs to take his place next to the Master! He can’t have a human for a mate! I won’t allow it. You best take my advice, dear. I didn’t spread my legs to Bael for nothing! I give you two days to decide.” Her rotten teeth snapped together, her gaze landing on the dragon tattoo. She froze.

“And if I refuse?” asked Tabatha. “Do you really think I’m afraid of you, because if you do, then think again!” Anger worked through her body. To think this filthy thing was Chax’s mother — how disgusting! Chax had to get his good looks from his father, that’s all there was to it.

“Then you’ll die! I don’t care if Wol-itelm himself approves of you.” The hag nodded to the dragon on her skin.

A furious hiss arose from the tattoo. Heat burned Tabatha’s skin where Wol-itelm’s image lay.

“You have two days!” the she-demon growled and disappeared from the room, but not before she twirled and sent shit all over the kitchen as well as on Tabatha.

She ran to the sink and vomited tequila and her supper. The vile, runny fecal matter dripped down her neck as Wol-itelm watched. To say the shit hit the proverbial fan was an understatement. She busted out laughing and then glanced at the kitchen. It was trashed, and it would take her hours to clean it alone.

“You could have warned me she smelled so badly!” Tabatha smiled when the dragon flung his head, and shook a small piece of poop off.

“What the hell happened, and who are you talking to?” Furfur, Chax’s brother, snapped behind her. “Lilith was here, wasn’t she?”

Tabatha tossed a look his way as she grabbed a bucket and a bottle of bleach from under the counter. “Yes, it seems she’s not too fond of me, and she demanded I refuse Chax’s proposal. Did you know why your mother is against our union?” She shrugged. “Not that it matters.”

“She’s not my mother, only Chax’s. We share the same father, Bael. Here, let me do this. Why don’t you go take a hot bath and clean yourself up?” He grabbed the bucket from her, turned and filled it with hot water.

“I’ll help. With the both of us working together, we should have this cleaned up in an hour or so. Can I ask what kind of demon she is? I don’t mean to be nasty, but she was disgusting. And thinking about how Chax had to live with that makes me sick.”

When Tabatha flipped the light switch on, her foot landed in a pile of something warm. It gushed through her toes, and she cringed. She glanced down, and sure enough, she stood in a big pile of shit.

“Shit, this is disgusting!” Deep laughter filled the room as she grabbed the mop in the corner and started to push the foul stuff into a pile.

“Chax lived with our father most of the time, and Lilith is what we call a Waste Demon. Do I need to say more?” His smile reached his eyes.

“Okay, one more question. What the hell was your father thinking when he had sex with her? I’m glad he did, because I wouldn’t have Chax, but my god, she’s just gross.”

“I have to agree with you on that one. Father said she had changed her appearance, but as soon as he found out who — and what — she was, it was over before it begun. But he’s made sure Chax never had to deal with her until he was old enough to ask about her.”

“Furfur, keep this between us. I don’t want Chax to know about it. He doesn’t need another distraction with everything else that’s going on.” She stopped sweeping and looked up into Furfur’s big, round eyes.

“I don’t like keeping things from my brother, and Lilith is no one to mess with, Tabatha.”

“I’ll tell him about this, but just not right now. Give me time to deal with her myself, please. I don’t want this to cause him any pain.”

“I’ll give you until tomorrow night, but by then, if you haven’t told him, I will.” He frowned and returned to cleaning.

They worked for the next hour mopping and scrubbing the kitchen until it was spotless. Tabatha knew she had only 12 hours to deal with Chax’s mother, but she had no clue where to begin.

Finally, the revolting chore finished, Tabatha stripped out of her robe, dropping it into the washing machine. Furfur had gone back to the guest cabin after she’d promised him once more that she would inform Chax about his mother.

She poured the laundry soap into the washer and closed the lid, and then moved into the bathroom where she turned on the warm water.

“Okay, Wol-itelm, how dangerous is Chax’s mother? If it comes down to it, can I handle her alone?”

The steam fogged up the bathroom windows and warmed the room as she stepped into the hot water. Tabatha tried not to throw up again as the dirt and shit that had attached itself to her body swirled in the bottom of the tub before it drained.

“You will not be doing anything with Lilith. I’ll deal with her when the time comes, and Chax already knows Lilith was here. Do you really think I would keep this from him after you taunted her? We need to know all serious threats against you so we can plan to protect ourselves,”
Wol-itelm snarled and bit her breast.

“Damn it, Wol-itelm, that hurt.” Tabatha jumped and slapped her hand over her tit.

“ Wait till you’re done with your shower. Chax and Hoyt are waiting for you,” Wol-itelm grumbled.

Tabatha glanced toward the bathroom door, knowing Chax would come up with some creative and yet delightful way to punish her

Chapter Two

Tabatha stared out at the men as they built the pack house in the distance, her dragon asleep against her breast. Chax’s brothers Derk, Nicor, and Furfur stood guard, never far from her. Both Hoyt and Chax had been furious with her for not calling them when Lilith had appeared. They were both so mad they chose to ignore her sexual desires last night and this morning. They still didn’t know about Wol-itelm’s summons, but it was only a matter of time.

“Why didn’t you say anything to Lilith last night, Drakos?”
Tabatha called to Wol-itelm.
 She noticed your mark.”

“She doesn’t know I’ve chosen you. She just knows that Chax has already marked you. Lilith had been hoping he would wait until the ceremony. But Chax always did what he wants and doesn’t follow procedures too well.”

“Why don’t you want people to know about this chosen stuff?”

“I’m afraid more would take it upon themselves to hunt you all down. When the time is right they will know. You have company coming. I’ll be around.”

She knew something was wrong when she had awakened and they hadn’t said a word to her or told her where they were going. At first, Tabatha thought they were still giving her the cold shoulder, but something else was not right with either of them. Hoyt didn’t even want her knowing about their meeting, but she had dragged that out of him at least. They fought when they wouldn’t discuss what was going on.

“I have a right to know if the danger is still here!” She had screamed at them as they disappeared from their bedroom.

Her sister Melody stepped up next to her. “Tabby, it looks like Hoyt’s parents and grandparents are here. A limo just pulled up.”

“Great, and Hoyt isn’t here! The jackass! Are their rooms ready?” She turned and walked to the front door. “I wanted to get the Christmas decorations out of the attic today. Now there won’t be time and we still need to pick out the trees.”

“Yep, everything is ready in the rooms. You’ll do fine. Everyone will love you. Maybe this afternoon we can look for the trees. How many do you want to decorate this year? Your mom did three?” Melody slid her arm around her waist and squeezed. “And if you need some breathing room, we can sneak you to my house for a breather.” She laughed, her gaze full of mischief.

“Yea right! My ass is still sore where Hoyt and Chax got a hold of me last time we did anything, but you are right. We could at least pick out the trees, even though I wanted to do it with my men and yes, mom usually decorated three. One in the living room, the large one outside and one in the family room. The only good thing is we won’t have to look for the one outside since it’s planted right where mom wanted it.” She laughed and remembered mom yelling at her dad when he had bought it for her. “I thought I would pee my pants watching Dad move that tree all around outside. She couldn’t make up her mind where she wanted it at first, but she did well. The tree is perfect where it is.”

Opening the door, Tabatha watched as an older mated pair got out of the limo, followed by five more people. They gazed about at their surroundings, until all their gazes landed on her. One female glared, the hate radiated off her from a distance sizzling around her.

Just great! Someone else who doesn’t like me. Can’t this Christmas go without all the hassle?

“Okay, who’s the bitch with the glare? I swear if one more person starts something, I’ll rip their heads off,” Melody snapped.

“Whose head are you ripping off now?” Ben laughed behind them.

“Whoever that bitch is? Look at her, she’s just itching to get bitch slapped. How dare she come to my sister’s home with hatred,” Melody snarled.

“Let’s not start anything, shall we? We don’t know who she is.” Ben wrapped his arm around Melody’s waist as the group moved forward.

Sucking in a deep breath, Tabatha stepped outside, but not before she noticed that Furfur was now beside her. She smiled up at him and knew he was there to give her support. The Three new men stepped up in front of her, blocking her view of the four females behind them.

“Hello, I’m Lance Cyrus. I’m looking for my son, Hoyt Cyrus,” the tall muscular man stated, as his green eyes gazed down at her.

“Hello Mr. Cyrus, and welcome. Hoyt isn’t here right now. He’s at a meeting. Why don’t you and your group come in? Your rooms are ready.” She held her hand out to shake his, but he stood there, not taking her hand. She lowered her hand. “Um, excuse me, I’m Tabatha, Hoyt’s mate, this is Furfur, Chax’s brother, and behind me, Ben, my brother, and his mate, Melody.” She went to step back, but Lance reached out and pulled her body into his and hugged her tight.

“I knew my son would find a beauty for his mate. Welcome to the family, Tabatha. I’m so happy to finally have a daughter.” He kissed the top of her head before he stepped back and smiled.

“Thank you. Please come in. I have coffee all ready and a late breakfast waiting for you.” Her cheeks heated with embarrassment as he released her. The other two men smiled as they all walked past her into the house. The women didn’t say a word as they followed.

Melody slid in next to her as she walked back into the house. “I’m telling you that bitch is trouble,” she whispered.

“Hush, you know they can hear you.” Tabatha watched them sit down on the sofas and chairs in the living room. “Please help yourself to the drinks and food.” She nodded towards the buffet that had been set up earlier.

“Let me do some introductions first.” Lance said and pulled a female into his arms. “This is my wife, Grace. The pair to my left are my parents, Helen and Brady Cyrus. The other gentleman is Hoyt’s younger brother, Trey, and the two other females are old friends of Hoyt’s, Marcy and Clare. They were raised together and insisted on coming.” He frowned at them.

Tabatha gritted her teeth and smiled. This was just great! Two females from Hoyt’s past. Just what she needed. “Well, I’m glad to meet you all. I’m afraid though I wasn’t expecting his friends, so they will have to stay in the guesthouse next door. It’s already been cleaned and stocked with food in case others came for the ceremony. I have two extra rooms here in the house for you and your mate, Mr. Cyrus, and your parents, along with a room for Trey. When you are ready, I’ll be glad to show you where they are. Melody can show Marcy and Clare to their rooms. Lunch will be ready around 2:00. Hopefully, your son will be back by then.” She glanced up at Furfur who just shrugged his shoulders.

“That’s fine dear, and I must say this is a beautiful place. It’s perfect for the pack. Welcome to the family. I too have always wanted a daughter.” Grace stepped out of her husband’s arms and hugged her. “And I’m sorry about Marcy and Clare. We tried to make them stay, but they wouldn’t hear of it,” she whispered into her ear and stepped back, a twinkle in her eyes.

“Thank you. Now, why don’t we show you to your…” Tabatha looked around, but something was wrong. She didn’t know why or how, but ever since the change when something was off her body seemed to warn her of the danger around her. Every muscle in her body tensed, something smelled off. She moved to the sliding doors on the balcony and saw the blaze across the pond. At once she knew it had been started on purpose.

“What is it?” Furfur asked as he and Derk stood beside her and gazed out the window.

“We have company and it’s not friendly. I guess that’s a warning to let me know it’s not over.” Her voice shaky, Tabatha hugged herself. “I had hoped it wasn’t true.” She looked up at Furfur.

“Shane and Nicor are on their way to check it out now. The guards have been put on alert and your mates are on their way back. It will be okay.” Furfur and Derk moved in closer and hugged her.

“They haven’t contacted me. I’ve been trying to reach them for the last 15 minutes!” Tabatha pulled back and frowned at him. “Their little punishment is starting to piss me off.”

Furfur just shrugged his shoulders. “They just contacted me when they found out what had happened.”

Tabatha was fuming, but she pasted on her smile and escorted Hoyt’s parents and grandparents to their rooms so they could freshen up. Then she waited in her room for her mates — World War III was about to take place and she was armed and ready.