Come for Me, page 11
My mate, not understanding the consequences of her actions, left Sam’s side, roamed the kingdom unguarded, and found her way to danger. With vampire and rogue attacks increasing near my territory, it’s dangerous for even the most talented she-wolves to be outnumbered in a fight. If she were discovered unmarked, they’d tear her to pieces and deliver her to my feet. Nothing would protect her from the foes who dared to challenge me, but my mark would give her a chance of survival.
Finding Alaina wrapped in the mutt’s arms, his lips bloody and reeking of alcohol, was worse than any fate I could fathom. It was one thing to imagine her wandering off and being attacked by my enemies and another to see the mutt I should’ve killed to begin taking advantage of her.
I saw his intention to follow that command before I let him go and Alaina’s plan to follow my orders. You can imagine my surprise when I discovered she was with the one wolf I had told to stay away from.
I didn’t even need my powers to piece together what the mutt had attempted. Between the cheap beer clouding his senses and weakening his resolve and the blood on his lips my mate inflicted, he deserved it.
My mate wasn’t scared of the pathetic little mutt. I would’ve felt that in her aura. She was brave, did what she needed to defend herself, and faced the situation like a queen. But she felt remorse when she hurt him, from having to draw the blood of someone she cares about.
That, I understand too well. Luckily for her, with my abilities, my mate won’t ever have to worry about guessing someone’s true intentions again. I will prescreen anyone near my mate and make sure they have the utmost purest intentions. I don’t want her to ever second-guess her safety under my care.
However tough it was for her to hurt him to save herself, the message served its purpose, as the mutt didn’t have aim to advance further when I arrived on the scene.
He has little mind for what he has done, and every atom of his pathetic being would pay. While the mutt will die today, death is a kindness—I could make this into a long torture, but because my mate is intact and I’m eager to claim her, his end will be quick.
Seething savagery courses through my veins and inebriates my soul. My wolf drinks in the chaos, and adrenaline accelerates my pulse, while mercy for my little mate’s sake has been tested and reached its limit.
My guys open the cell, and the door creaks. Still holding her arm, I push her into the cell first.
She brings her hand to her mouth, shocked. “What have you done to him?” When she moves toward him, I cage my arm around her stomach, holding her close to me.
I lay a soft kiss next to her ear, smiling as I whisper, “Say, thank you, my king, for not killing the mutt.”
She shivers at my words, and I smile at the effect I have on her.
She should be scared and is about to find out just how devilish I can be. My words, although patronizing, couldn’t be more serious. It takes great restraint not to kill him on sight, and I feel I’m owed some credit. But he needs to be alive as my mate receives a lesson. While I’m proud of how she handled herself, she needs to witness what’s next—her actions have consequences. Had she listened and remained where I told her to be, where I knew she’d be safe, this could have been avoided.
Disgusted by my words, she whips her head in my direction, her eyes wide.
If my words alone create such a look, then she’s in for a rude awakening.
“You’re insane,” she spits at me.
A sinister grin sprawls across my face. “Oh, darling, when it comes to my claim on you, you have no idea.”
I tell the guards to hold her, one of the few times I’ll ever allow someone else to touch her. When I walk over to the mutt, a smile spreads across my face as my wolf relishes how easily he was reduced to his current state.
While appearing calm and still an ever-prideful bastard of an alpha, the stench of fear is eminent; the putrid smell concentrates around the chained mutt. Blood is caked across his body. My smile morphs into a sneer at the pathetic form quaking in the presence of my aura.
My belligerent nature examines his beaten form. The damage is extensive yet not enough to atone for his defiance of my authority as king and right to Alaina as her Goddess-given mate.
The mutt’s scheme to take Alaina before I could claim her verges on treason and will be punished as such. It was selfish of him to risk having a weak king for his own self gain. Without her, my strength would diminish. But he doesn’t care.
I grab Caleb’s face, cracking his jaw as I whip his head to Alaina so she can stare at her consequences. “You did this to him, Alaina.”
Truth is, prior to this incident, I didn’t want to kill him, either. Jack was there for me before and after my father passed. But I’ve been known to follow through with my intentions, so much so that my word is law among the kingdom. I intend to make good on every declaration. Otherwise, I’ll lose the incentive for people to follow my orders.
“No.” Alaina shakes her head in disbelief.
“Yes,” I mock. “Or do you not recall the mercy I showed him earlier?”
My voice booms throughout the dungeon walls. I’ve never felt so crazed before. It wasn’t until she showed up that he tried to mark what’s mine again. He must’ve forgotten once he saw her. I almost can’t blame the boy for his transgression. My mate is irresistible.
I right-hook him across the jaw, eliciting another crack. As he recovers from the blow, I walk behind him, circling my prey. I jam my fingers into the open claw marks on his chest, and the wound my men have left oozes blood. Screams echo throughout the dungeon when I dig and twist.
Alaina tries to look away.
I pick him up by his throat and drag him so he’s face-to-face with her. “Take your punishment, darling. Watch your precious mutt as I kill him.”
She struggles against the guards with tears as I squeeze his throat.
“Stop, please! He didn’t know!”
Lies.
I was clear about what I would do if he was near her again. No one touches my mate. I continue crushing the mutt’s throat.
“I saw you with her. Your fiancée.”
That stops me, and I drag my gaze to her.
“After you ordered me out of the room, you snuck off to be with your little vampire mate.” The words spit from her mouth like venom. “I saw everything.” Her nostrils flare.
My mate was hurt, and she left. My mate wasn’t just hurt. She’s jealous.
“I told Caleb you didn’t want me anymore, that you had her.”
How could my mate ever think I didn’t want her?
My anger subsides. The thought amuses me, my wolf enjoying that she might care for me.
“Were you jealous, little mate?”
She growls at me, darting away from my gaze. The sight of her blushing has my wolf howling.
“I know I don’t have to ask if you are.”
My guards bite their lips to hide their amusement at my mate’s sass, and I note their transgressions. They will pay for that crack during their training. They’re supposed to be void of emotion, ready to kill without thought, and to not question my methods. My interrogations have specific guidelines. Our efficacy is the fear we instill in others, and cracking smiles is not part of it.
“Let him go.”
“No,” I say.
“It’s not his fault. I went looking for him.”
“You. What?”
My amusement fades, replaced by blind rage and hurt at her betrayal.
Oh, she did this out of spite.
The mutt’s intentions were true, and my mate was just being defiant and trying to get back to me in a jealous rage. So, the mutt isn’t the problem.
But my mate’s behavior is. A pup with a tantrum. Something I’m certain I can fuck out of her later. Thoughts of me fucking her into submission run across my mind. How good that bratty mouth would look with a mouthful of my cock, lodging myself into her throat, causing her to gag, daring her to talk back to me again. She’d cry pretty little tears for me.
Focus on the task at hand.
Right. My mate misunderstood what she saw, and instead of confronting me, she ran off to mate with someone else like a child.
We can’t have that now, can we?
I can either spend the rest of my life reminding every male that Alaina is mine, or I can remind one disobedient little mate to make sure everyone who encounters her knows it automatically. They’ll smell me on her for eternity and avoid her like the plague. Touching her would mean signing their death warrant.
I can’t help the wicked grin that creeps onto my face, displaying my canines. As my wolf registers my next move, I salivate, eager to sink myself into her.
“So, he doesn’t need the reminder. You do.” I release the mutt’s throat, and he falls as he gasps.
My guards switch their holds from Alaina to the mutt as I step over the bloodied mutt.
Stalking toward her, I see Alaina standing tall, not afraid of my wrath, and it fills me with pride to have such a brave mate. Anyone else would be cowering and begging for their life. The cell would be filled with fear, sweat, and—if I’m at my most ruthless point—urine. But not my mate.
She will make a brave queen.
A shadow covers her face as I meet her small frame. My enemies would find it easy to throw her around and take advantage of her. One whiff of my scent on her, and no one would dare try. Really, I’d be protecting the unmated males from being slaughtered. After all, I have to think of my people as their king.
I grab the back of her neck and yank her toward me. Sinking my teeth into her flesh, I mark her as mine forever, and I know from her taste, this woman will be the death of me.
Chapter Fifteen
Alaina
“Mine,” Dax echoes through our mindlink for the first time, his voice mimicking a conscience and infecting my body.
Dax isn’t emotionless like I thought, making it harder for me to hate him. Tears pool in my eyes when his emotions creep into me as if they were my own. Like Dax, his feelings hold grave strength. The joy and relief I give him, the pain I’ve caused him, the care he has for me . . .
And the fear he has of losing me.
An instinctual urge to claim him as mine sparks within me. His insertion of himself has made him part of my being. Rejecting him now would mean removing a part of myself.
I don’t know enough about myself to begin with, but this part of me that encompasses him feels like home. A home invasion, maybe. The thought of giving away this new sense of belonging means more than just denying him of me. It was denying me myself.
Dax must be sensing how hard I’m trying to stifle my tears when he gently holds my face, caressing my cheeks with his thumbs. I take in his vulnerable expression as he waits for me to respond to his claim —to accept him as mine—and it has my insides breaking.
I have him, and now, he wants to have me, too.
A small movement causes me to spot Caleb, who’s struggling to bring himself to a sitting position on the stone floor.
But how can I have someone who hurts those I care about? How do I freely give myself to someone who forces my hand out of his own insecurity and jealousy?
I’m weeping, the internal conflict becoming too much. Dax’s mark, what is supposed to be a declaration of love, is a life sentence. His possessive nature would never let me leave. I’d forever be a prisoner to this pack.
Before, no one in the kingdom knew what I looked like, so I had a good chance at getting away unseen. Now, everyone will smell him on me and recognize the gigantic mark that’ll tattoo my skin. No one will help me leave their king, sentencing their pack to be more vulnerable with their ruler unmated.
Home. Taya. Jemma. Mom. Me.
Jemma always said the right guy would wait until I was ready. Dax doesn’t wait. He took my choice away from me. He wanted to punish me; it was my turn to punish him.
So, he could wait forever for my answer, but it would never come.
“I hate you.” I pull out of his grasp, my hands balling to fists at my sides.
His brow furrows at my declaration, expression screaming anger. If it weren’t for this gift to experience his every emotion, I would’ve thought the look on his face was merely anger for rejecting him, but the hurt I’m enduring says otherwise.
He marked me without my permission. It is so like a king to assume I’d melt into his arms and accept him.
He’s a king, and he wants us—bite him! Don’t act like “rich and handsome” aren’t your type.
Although I want to go for what my wolf is insisting, this was the Moon Goddess’s and Dax’s choice.
Not mine.
The Moon Goddess took my mother, took my chances to grow up with a family. Now I know why She has sent me Dax, to take away what I have left.
Fortunately for me, I still have one choice. With the mate bond growing stronger, I have to exercise my right to choose now at its weakest.
I silently apologize to my wolf for what I’m about to do.
“I, Alaina Grove, reject—”
Dax squeezes life out of my throat, a stark difference between when he’s grabbed me before. Those times, I could breathe, but I’m clawing at him now as I gasp for air, trying to regain that same privilege.
His eyes are gold, jaw clenched, teeth bared, veins popping out of his head and neck.
Caleb’s eyes go wide, and though he tries to get to me, his injuries have taken too large a toll.
“Finish that sentence. I dare you.” Dax squeezes harder, and spots dot my vision.
His voice is spine-chilling yet soft when he leans into my ears and mutters, “Don’t break my heart, darling. You wouldn’t survive that punishment. Neither would anyone you love.”
My eyes go wide, and I think of Jemma. Would he kill the closest person I’ve got to family? The look on his face answers my own question.
He’ll not only do it. He’ll enjoy it.
I’m struggling to remain conscious when he whispers, “I’ll never accept your rejection. Never say that shit to me again. I’ll make you regret it.” He lets go of my neck, turning to the guards, and I gasp desperately. “Take Caleb to the infirmary.”
They each grab Caleb’s arms, and one guard throws him over his shoulder. Caleb grunts as they cart him out of the cell and up the stairs.
When I intend to follow, Dax seizes my arm, wrenching me back to him.
I stare at him with so much betrayal, hatred, confusion, and loss, while he stares at me with longing and what I decipher as concern.
He’s worried. Good. He should be.
He probably thinks I’m the kind of girl who would take him back after he’s screwed me over. He thinks I’d roll over, giving him what he wants.
Well, he’s about to learn even kings don’t get everything they want.
My lip curls in disgust when I glower at his hand curled around my arm. The rest of my body stays frozen, while my eyes shift from his hand to his pleading deep caramel eyes.
My eyes likely glow violet when he finally relents, drops my arm, and sighs. Rubbing the back of his neck with a look of defeat, he lets me follow Caleb.
* * *
In the infirmary, the royal doctor finishes stitching up Caleb’s final wound. He looks better already, with his wolf finally having a chance to heal him. Dax is allowing Caleb to go home once the doctor discharges him.
“What’s your father going to say about you returning to the pack without a mate?” I ask.
Caleb pauses, registering the reality. “I’m sure he’ll arrange something for me. Or if I’m lucky, he’ll make a few calls to get me into other pack borders to search.”
He’s never loved the idea of an arrangement. The only reason he’s considered me is that his parents had already regarded me to be their daughter.
Anyone else would be a hard sell for Luna Kathy. One time, his parents mentioned to me they’ve felt the aura of a leader in me. I snort at how wrong they are. The only thing I’ve led myself to is my own imprisonment and to getting their son almost killed three times in one day.
I offer Caleb an apologetic smile on behalf of my mate among everything else after he finishes inspecting his bandages.
He bumps his shoulder into mine as if to tell me not to worry about it. “As much as it sucked ass, I would’ve done the same thing King Dax did if someone tried to mark my mate before me.”
“You would never do what he did.”
“You’re right. I wouldn’t have spared him. He didn’t do that for my benefit.”
Hope they checked to see if he had a concussion.
I roll my eyes and sigh.
Moments pass as I ponder his thoughts, staring in silence at my kicking feet.
Caleb’s lousy attempt to side with Dax does little to comfort me.
“Think about it. The king, whose ability to protect his pack and himself, relies on finding his fated mate, and after eight years of ruling alone and seven looking for her, he catches her trying to be marked by another. Twice.”
His logic hits me square in the face. Dax found me in the middle of being marked by Caleb. According to pack law, he was in the right to challenge Caleb’s choice. Dax is my Goddess-given mate. By design and nature, we’re two parts of a whole. For years, he’s been merely fighting to protect that part of him.
But I was also fighting to protect myself.
I clung to the need to be with my family and pack so desperately, in hopes of finding out more of who I am. Regardless of the consequences, I was willing to do anything, even hurt my mate and defy the Moon Goddess.
Crap. Is Dax the reasonable one here?
No. Dax is an ass about it.
“Give him a chance, babe.” Caleb bumps my shoulder with his once more before he gets off the padded table. He then puts on his shirt, careful to not reopen his wounds.
“Careful—if Dax catches you calling me babe . . .”
