Fangs and Fists, page 20
“Do you think I’d willingly risk getting pregnant here or that you’re the only one with integrity? Why do you think I was chosen for this mission? Why do you think I was willing to do anything to get to you? I can’t have cubs, Victor.”
He studied her carefully and she guessed he was trying to decide if that was a lie. If only it were. Years ago, when she’d been caught practicing magic, her pack had sentenced her to sterilization -- one of the rarest and worst punishments under pack law. If wolves with magical skills weren’t allowed to breed, the magic wouldn’t be passed down to future generations. At least that was the reason for such a cruel, ignorant law.
Soon after, she’d run away, keeping contact only with her sister, Winona. The pack had since changed leadership and the archaic law had been removed, but Jolanda would never forget what had been stolen from her.
“I don’t give a damn if you believe me or not,” she said, holding his gaze, unable to control the anger that surfaced along with that horrible memory.
He brushed a loose strand of hair from her eyes. “I didn’t say that.”
“I can tell. I want your help, Victor, but I can’t force you to trust me.”
“Like I said, I’ve got nothing else to lose. One way or another, I’m dead.”
Hope and excitement coursed through her. “You’re not dead yet.”
“What’s your plan?”
“Haven’t got one at the moment, but now we can work on it together.”
“Others have attempted to escape, you know. Recently a handful of wolves tried and failed.”
“Did they?”
“They were from another house. One of them was a gladiator named Bolt. Good warrior.”
“Yes, I know.”
“The masters told you.”
“No. My sister, Winona, did. Those wolves weren’t killed, Victor.” She whispered in his ear. “They made it out.”
* * *
The next morning, Victor arrived late at the training chamber. He had a lot to think about and had spent most of the night tossing and turning while pondering Jolanda’s proposal. He hadn’t given her a definite answer, but he had agreed to consider planning an escape.
Unlike the captive wolves, Jolanda had more freedom to travel through the tower. She’d come willingly and hadn’t been trapped in the back of a truck on her way inside. Therefore she remembered the way out, though she admitted it was well guarded. The demons saw and heard just about everything that went on in the tower, so the wolves’ only hope would be to fight their way out using brute force as well as Jolanda’s magic. Still, they needed to formulate a plan. That meant organizing the wolves and finding the right moment.
Victor couldn’t concentrate on escape if he was fighting for his life during training. Practice could be as dangerous as the arena itself, especially if guys like Wrecks planned on attacking him. While he understood Wrecks’s anger and frustration, he’d never understand backstabbing, but he had more important things to think about now.
Wolves they believed dead were possibly alive on the outside. Some had even made it back to the woods -- if Jolanda had told him the truth.
Still, after all this time in the tower, he knew he couldn’t trust anyone. Despite that and his depression from the previous day, he was again contemplating a way to escape with as many wolves as possible. Maybe it was a matter of self-esteem or perhaps despite his attempt at humility he wanted to be the Alpha wolf after all. Whatever his reason, he was ready to fight or die for freedom.
Brutal approached and several other gladiators looked in Victor’s direction. Wrecks and his allies were engaged in practice on the other side of the chamber.
“Hey,” Brutal said. “What’s up? I didn’t think you were going to train today.”
“I’ve got a lot on my mind.”
Victor studied Brutal for a moment. He wasn’t the brightest wolf for sure, but his survival instincts were good. He was a loyal friend and could keep a secret.
“Who do you trust most here?” Victor asked quietly.
Brutal looked characteristically blank. “Trust for what?”
“Anything. Who do you think has been least corrupted by our life here?”
“Who hasn’t been?”
Sometimes Brutal was smarter than he looked.
“Good point,” Victor said. “Let me put it this way. If you were going to take a risk for the sake of the… house.”
“Pack.” A faint smile tugged at Brutal’s mouth. “You were going to say pack.”
Victor glanced at him, annoyed. “Who would you trust to back you up?”
Brutal narrowed his eyes and studied the training warriors. Finally, he said, “River and Hunter.”
Two wolves who mostly kept to themselves. River had sided with them during yesterday’s fight. Both wolves had killed in the arena, but only when they’d been pushed to it.
“Why the questions?” Brutal asked. “What’s going on?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
“Are you going to let me in on it?”
Victor held his friend’s gaze. Again, he wished his former beta was here -- not because he wanted his friend in captivity, but because he could have used his intelligence as well as his loyalty. Brutal wasn’t smart, but in Victor’s experience, he was as loyal as his old beta.
“As soon as I have something to say, you’ll be the first to know,” Victor replied honestly.
“You know, most of these wolves are on your side. I don’t know what got into Wrecks yesterday.”
“I do. It’s this place.”
“Yeah. It’s hell.”
And Victor wanted out -- one way or another.
Chapter Four
Jinx Speaks
The next night, Victor was again taken to Jolanda’s chamber.
Once the guards left them alone, they went to the shower where they could talk more freely -- or so they hoped.
They quickly shed their clothes and stepped under the warm stream of water.
Jolanda slid her arms around his neck, her body pressed close to his. The sensation of her firm breasts and water-slicked flesh aroused him so much that he was almost instantly erect.
Her warm breath tickled his ear as she whispered close to it, “Have you made your decision or do you need more time?”
“First things first,” he said, his words ending in a hungry growl.
He buried his fingers in her thick hair and kissed her. His tongue plunged into her mouth and hers met it with enthusiastic strokes. He slid his hand down her back to her buttocks.
Jolanda curled her fist around his cock. She stroked it and he groaned. Her fingers explored its shape and texture, but she longed for more.
Sinking to her knees, she tilted her gaze up toward his and offered him a flirty smile.
“Jolanda,” he said, a smoldering look in his dark blue eyes.
Clasping his cock, she took the head between her lips. She sucked him while growling deep in her throat.
Victor groaned and closed his eyes, resting his head against the tile. He caressed her hair and stroked her shoulders while she pleasured him with her mouth. Holding him with one hand, she continued sucking and licking while at the same time stroking his thighs. The hard muscles tightened even more as his excitement grew.
Jolanda slid the tip of her tongue under his foreskin and he growled, his entire body tensing. She lapped, sucked, and licked him.
“I’m going to come,” he said in a raw voice.
“Um hmm,” she said and smiled as well as she could around his cock. She sucked deeper, until he brushed the back of her throat. At the same time, she kneaded his balls.
His hands trembled on her shoulders and his belly clenched and unclenched. She sensed that he was trying not to thrust hard into her mouth, but Jolanda was prepared. He came, groaning and growling. Jolanda continued sucking and swallowing until he leaned heavily against the shower wall, finished and thoroughly satisfied.
Jolanda’s heart beat fast and her clit felt heavy and tingly. Sucking him off had aroused her so much that she could hardly wait to come as well, but she had enjoyed pleasuring him.
Victor opened his eyes and smiled, a content yet vigorous expression on his face. He cupped her chin and caressed her cheek with his thumb.
“How was it?” she asked.
“Fucking incredible.”
“So it seemed.” She grinned and stood.
He reached out and swept his thumbs over her stiff nipples. He gently pressed her breasts together and bent to run his tongue across her nipples over and over.
Jolanda gasped and arched her neck.
“Oh, Victor,” she said in a husky voice.
He kissed her stomach and grasped her buttocks with one hand while his other cupped her soft mound. He slid his fingers into her and she nearly came just from that. Then he pulled out his fingers and ran one slowly up her clit. Jolanda trembled and her heart pounded.
“I’m so close,” she said breathlessly.
“Fuck, you’re hot,” he said and reached down to stroke his cock. It was already reawakening.
Jolanda couldn’t resist reaching for him. He let her stroke him to full mast before pressing her against the wall. Staring into her eyes, he bent his knees and filled her slowly. He grasped her buttocks and hoisted her higher. She locked her legs around his waist and wrapped her arms around him while he fucked her against the tile.
“Oh!” Jolanda cried, exploding in an intense orgasm.
He thrust a few more times and came again. She unwound her shaky legs from his waist and her feet touched the ground. Victor continued supporting her, his big body pressing hers against the wall as they caught their breath.
“Well?” She panted against his lips. “Will you?”
“Yes. I’ll do it.”
She looked relieved, and then she smiled and kissed him. “Thank you for trusting me.”
“Just don’t prove me wrong.”
“Have you told your pack?”
Victor closed his eyes for a moment and leaned his head back against the tile. His pack. His house. His brothers. Some believed that’s what they were, but others, like Wrecks, wouldn’t be easy to convince. Victor contemplated not including them in his plans. Leaving them behind would be cruel, but as a leader, he needed to think about the good of the many. Wrecks and his friends had chosen to attack him. They had only backed down when they knew the others didn’t support them. Instead of challenging him to a fair fight, Wrecks had chosen to ambush him and recruit others to help. Such wolves couldn’t be trusted. Maybe the tower had corrupted them. If so, how long would it be before it did the same to others? Victor himself had already succumbed to its evils. He’d killed for the demons and he’d willingly mated with Jolanda, though he still wasn’t completely sure if she could be trusted.
“We’re not exactly a pack.”
Jolanda’s brow furrowed. “You’re wolves.”
“You haven’t been here long, Jolanda. Life in the tower wears you down after a while.”
“I can see how that would happen, but from what I’ve heard, you’re the leader of your gladiatorial house. You’re the Alpha. Aren’t you?”
He held her gaze. He wasn’t quite sure what he was anymore.
“Victor, without leadership, this plan won’t work. You know how wolves are.”
“I gave up leadership a couple of days ago.”
“What? Who’s their leader now?”
“Last I heard, they still want me, but --”
“You can’t just quit being the leader.”
“I can when wolves attack my back because I lost to a witch in the arena.”
Jolanda looked shocked.
“I didn’t mean for that to happen,” she said. “Damn it. Why do wolves hate magic so much? It never made any sense to me.”
“I don’t know. Maybe we’re like humans in that way. We hate what we don’t understand because we’re afraid of it.”
“Are you? Afraid of magic? Afraid of me?”
He caressed her face. “No. I’m not afraid of you, but magic… here in the tower, we’ve learned to hate it.”
“And for good reason. Most of what I’ve seen here scares me, too. That’s why we have to escape. We have to join the rebellion and defeat these demons.”
“I wonder if we can defeat them. We don’t even know where they came from. Are they truly from hell? Are they from another world? We don’t know.”
“If they’re hiding in this tower, then that means they’re not invulnerable. We’ll find a way. We’ll get answers, but first we need to free our brothers and sisters. Wolves don’t belong here, and I won’t leave without at least trying. My pack had faith in me.”
“Your pack didn’t realize how bad this place is and how powerful the masters are. Jolanda, if you decide to bust out of here without taking the rest of us, I’ll understand.”
“That’s not going to happen. I have a lot of reasons to do this. First, because I’m a wolf. Second, I have a mission. Third, if word gets around that a wolf witch used her power to help her own kind, then maybe it will break down the barriers that keep us apart.”
Victor had never realized that by shunning wolves who practiced magic, they were possibly causing more harm than good. Like most wolves, he had been a stickler for the old ways, but he could still respect his culture while at the same time expanding it.
Now he was thinking like a man who trusted Jolanda completely.
This could still be a trick. She might be baiting him to entertain the masters.
“If they still consider you the leader, then it’s up to you to rally them for escape,” Jolanda said. “I’ll back you up in any way I can, and I’ll keep talking to the demons. Maybe I can find the best time or way for us to do this.”
“All right. I’ll see what I can do.”
What Victor didn’t tell her was that if she turned out to be lying, then neither of them would get out of the tower because magic or no magic, he would find a way to take her down with him.
* * *
Over the next week, Victor was brought to Jolanda on a nightly basis. No matches were arranged for him in the arena. During that time, one of the wolves who had attacked him with Wrecks was killed. Brutal also sustained a serious injury to his left shoulder, putting him out of training until he healed. The wound had been made by a silver sword, so it would take longer to mend, since silver inhibited wolves’ regenerative powers.
Victor waited two days after agreeing to ally himself with Jolanda before he told others of their plans. He thought that directly after he’d surrendered to her, she might betray him to the masters, but as far as he knew, she had kept their secret.
He selected his confidants carefully from among his wolf brothers. Brutal was resting in his cell the morning after his match when Victor approached. The cell door was open and he stepped in.
Brutal sat on the edge of his bed, slowly rotating his bandaged shoulder.
“Fucking silver,” Brutal muttered.
“How’s it feeling?” Victor asked.
“Could be worse. I’m alive, which is more than I can say for the other guy. Why aren’t you on the training field? Not that you need it now that you’re Jolanda’s cub machine.”
Victor growled softly and cast him a warning look.
“Sorry, dude. Just a bad joke.”
Especially since Jolanda couldn’t bear cubs, but Brutal had no way of knowing that.
Victor sat beside him on the bed and leaned closer. Brutal’s brow furrowed and he edged away.
“Hey, when Wrecks asked if I was your bitch, I was pretty confident about saying no --”
“Don’t be an idiot,” Victor said, growling. “And don’t make me regret keeping my promise to make you the first one to hear when I have something to say.”
Brutal’s eyes widened and he leaned toward Victor. “Sorry again. I should have known it was something like that. What’s up?”
“Keep it down. They’re probably listening.”
“I know,” Brutal whispered.
“I think if we’re smart about this, we can get out of here.”
“Out of the tower?”
Victor nodded.
A hint of fear shone in Brutal’s eyes, but also excitement. “You know what happened to Bolt and the others.”
“I know what the masters told us, but Jolanda has another story from outside.”
“Jolanda? What the fuck did that witch do to you?”
“She didn’t do anything, and she’s not who we think she is. I’m serious about this, Brutal. If we stick together, like a pack, we have a chance to get out. We need to spread the word to the others, but we need to keep quiet about our plan or else we’re dead.”
“I get that. What’s the plan?”
“Jolanda knows the way out of the tower, but we’ll have to fight our way to freedom.”
Brutal shook his head. “You’re crazy. The guards will slaughter us.”
“You saw what Jolanda did to me in the arena.”
“Hell yeah.”
“She can help us get through the guards the same way.”
“I thought she was one of them.”
Victor held Brutal’s gaze. “She’s one of us. Once a wolf, always a wolf.”
“But she uses magic.”
“And without it, we’re at the mercy of demons. Are you with us or not?”
“You really think this is possible?”
“I do. What about you? Do you think we can get the entire house together on this? Mates, cubs, everyone?”
Brutal looked skeptical. “You’re asking for a lot. I trust most of them, but Wrecks --”
“I thought about leaving him out of it,” Victor admitted.
“That might be wise, but what do I know? I’m more of a lover than a planner.”
“Before we go further with this, I need to talk to River and a few others.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Right now, just sit tight and heal.”
“Victor, if we get word to the females, the other houses are sure to know what we’re planning.”
Victor sighed. “I know.”
“They’re our enemies in the arena, but we’re all still wolves.”
He knew where Brutal was headed with this, and it was something that had been plaguing Victor as well. He wondered if it was possible to include every wolf from all houses. It would be even more dangerous. He didn’t know the others, whether they would agree to try or if they would leak their plan to the masters.
