I stared into the furious amber eyes of my mate, my mind still struggling to pull itself out of its drowsiness. For the briefest of moments, my hand wouldn’t cooperate. My fingers spasmed around his erection, squeezing it tighter around the top.Griff’s snarl reverberated across my entire body, making my traitorous nipples tighten. “Cathwulf Aibek,” he said in a voice that curled around my neck like a garrote. “If you don’t release my cock this instant—”My fingers snapped open, and I rolled to the furthest side of the bed with my back pressed against the window. It turned out that the red I had been seeing throughout the dream had come from light streaming in through a lowered blind.Not that any of this mattered because I’d just molested Griff in his sleep.He rose from his spot and glowered, his lips curled with contempt. “First, you disguised yourself as someone else to scam a fuck, and now this.” He spread his arms wide, revealing his erection, which hadn’t so much as wilted sinc
“How is that being selfish?” I snapped. Before she could launch into an explanation, I added, “Don’t tell me he’s made me climax twice, and I’ve left him with blue balls.”My wolf raised her snout in the air and sniffed in a gesture that said I was being an asshole. I bit down on a chunk of sausage and resolved to deal with her later.“Did you ever love me?” Griff asked.The words hit me like a glove-slap, and I raised my head to meet his penetrating gaze.“I beg your pardon?”He flashed his eyes. “You heard me the first time.”“Well, I already know how you felt about me,” I said, trying to stay calm. “Cathwulf was difficult to love.”“Answer my question.” He clenched his hand around a piece of toast, reducing it to crumbs.“It’s hard to love someone you never knew,” I said with a bit of bite.His chest heaved as he inhaled a long, deep breath. “What about when you were Katie?”I shook my head and tried not to roll my eyes. “You fed me two different sets of stories, proving that you’r
As the red vehicle approached the stranded carriage and officers in black uniforms piled out, Griff snarled through the phone he clenched between his jaws to run.He didn’t need to tell me twice.The moment the enforcers, or whoever those people were, pulled the crowd of irate customers off of the porter, they would notice that the occupants of two of the cabins were missing. I turned around and bolted down the winding path.Leaves and low branches tangled in my fur as I passed, but the minor irritation was nothing compared to what would happen if we were caught. Griff followed a few paces behind me, either slowing because of the mobile phone he had to carry or out of a sense of protecting his mate. It was hard to tell which side of his soul was in charge, but I didn’t dwell on it too long.Our claws scraped across stony ground, and a cool breeze meandered through the trees and low shrubs. We continued down a winding slope leading to a fast-running stream that looked narrow enough to
The door at the other end opened, and Lydia jogged in, wearing a pair of leather pants and a fitted blazer that made her look like she was both business-like and ready to kick ass. Her blue hair was arranged in a messy bun, with strands that looked purple in the basement’s peculiar light.“Cathwulf, do you want to come with me?” she asked with a smile.I gave both gods what I hoped was a deferent nod of thanks for the rescue before bounding across the room toward Fenrir’s mate.Lydia held the door open for me, and I rushed out into a concrete hallway that led to a stairwell of a similar material. Nostalgia overwhelmed my senses, and memories flooded my mind of Dad and me opening the door to the upper basement and staring down at the floodwater.He used to tell me that this was a problem I would have to fix when I became the alpha. Whenever I asked if we could solve it now, he would pat my head and laugh.I shook off the memories and continued up the stairs to the ground floor, and thr
“How are they going?” I asked.Her smile faded. “There have been a few unexpected developments, but don’t mention anything to Fenrir, or he’ll take charge. He needs to focus on this mission.”I nodded and walked through a room overlooking the front lawn, where a metal stage took up the middle of the space that looked like it had once held a statue. Sunlight streamed in through the windows, illuminating the bed’s carved headboard of a winged wolf flying through an inferno of demons. It almost reminded me of my journey from the Punishment Pit to Hades’ palace.After the first shower since escaping the Fifth Faction of Hell, I felt refreshed enough to face two wolf gods and my furious mate. I dressed in the outfit Lydia had ordered for me and gazed into the mirror. The leather pants I chose made my legs look even longer than ever, and the tank top pinched a little at the waist, accentuating my too-large boobs.I pulled up the neckline and scowled. “Why didn’t I order something more modes
I glanced from a grinning Ophois to Fenrir, who gazed back as though the entire heist depended on my ability to ride an Egyptian wolf god through a void between realms. My throat spasmed. Was I supposed to jump on his back while the atmosphere of that place sucked all the air and moisture from my lungs, or would he transport me in a bag of sand?My gaze darted to Griff, whose features were as tense as the tight band of alarm wrapping around my lungs.“I don’t understand,” I murmured. “Why me?”“Ideally it would be a large team, but Ophois needs someone to help him detonate the smoke bombs, gather the prisoners, and collect the crystals.”The band of alarm tightened around my throat. “It sounds like there needs to be at least twelve of us.”“You know what happens when people who don’t belong to Hell try to enter it,” Ophois said in that booming voice.I rubbed the back of my neck. It wasn’t like I was chickening out, but I wasn’t sure if I could do everything they wanted. But they woul
I gave him what I hoped was a confident smile. Ophois and I would just go training. It wasn’t like he would consume me like he did that wizard. At least not until the heist was complete.Griff pursed his lips, his brows creasing with concern.“After you.” Ophois swept an arm toward the doorway.Griff nodded and drew back.I stepped through the opening and into the darkened enclosure of tents and Viking-style buildings, my lungs filling with the scent of the forest. Ophois followed after me and closed the door with a flash of golden light.The lining of my stomach trembled with trepidation. How on earth did he think he would get me ready to traverse that void?I gazed up into his golden eyes and asked, “What would you like me to do?”“Fenrir tells me that the layers between the two wards were based on the space between dimensions. How did you cope with that particular void?”“By holding my breath,” I murmured. “But that dark patch felt nothing like sticking my hand through the door.”“
He paused, seeming to wait for me to say something else. When I continued my stony silence, he walked in the direction of the wards. “This shouldn’t be too onerous, but speak if you become faint.”“All right,” I whispered.The magical barrier tingled over my skin, and as Ophois stepped into its depths, everything went black. Instead of emerging out through the other side into the forest, he turned left and continued a steady path through the dark.“Are you feeling any effects yet?” he asked.“Nothing,” I murmured.“Then your soul is more resilient than most,” he said.“But this is a milder version of the void.”“Correct.”We walked the rest of the way in silence, but several moments later, a sensation of pins and needles attacked my skin. Or maybe it was fleas.“I’m feeling something, now,” I said.“Can you continue for thirty more seconds?” he asked.“Yes, why?”“Because that will be a full revolution of the wards.”With a sharp nod, I uncurled my fists and placed them flat on his sh