As our eyes held, the bond came alive—heat, fear, anger, and something frantic under it all that I couldn’t quite define.
I instinctively took a step towards Cazz, but his head jerked back and he tensed, so I froze again.
Then the door to the chamber opened and Ghere trotted in, ushering a huge wolf-man behind him.
My first impression of this creature was that he reminded me of a professional wrestler—so I found myself swallowing back a nervous giggle and trying to keep my face straight.
I’d never seen this guy before, but as Ghere melted into the background, the man strode forward. He was a complete beefcake—dark hair, hea
~ JESSE ~The tension in the room ratcheted up another notch.“Yes, I do,” I seethed. “So, did you buy all of us, or just me?”Khush didn’t even blink. “We take whatever approach is most likely to be successful with the least consequence. In your case, it was clear that the males in your family were open to… negotiation. They saw it as something like an arranged marriage,” he said with a shrug.“That’s not marriage, that’s trafficking!” I hissed.‘Don’t let him see your emotion. It will only weaken you in his eyes.’
~ CASIMIR ~It was the first time I’d drawn on the power in full since I’d claimed her and it almost washed me away. My body thrummed with it. A tsunami of strength and compulsion and sheer might. I sucked in a breath and had to work to keep myself from dropping to my knees in submission to myself.Feet planted on the stone floor for a moment I ignored Khush and all the others, just let it hum through my veins as I wrestled it under control.I was panting, I realized, my skin throbbing as the power coursed through me like electricity in my veins.Dear god,
~ CASIMIR ~Mind still open to Rake and Jesse so they’d hear every word, I stepped forward to put myself right in front of Khush. The male was larger than me by at least fifty pounds. If we’d been men, I would have needed to use skill rather than brute strength to defeat him.But we were not men. And he did not stand a chance.Snapping a thread of compulsion at him like a whiplash, I smiled as Khush’s eyes glazed, then he blinked and focused on me again.“Tell me the things you’re holding back—the things you think I wouldn’t approve of, or that protect someone else’s interests,” I said casually. I kept the others in the room ignorant to the conversation, their ears sto
~ CASIMIR ~‘Very good, Khush. You’ve pleased me.’His large body relaxed, the compulsion keeping his mind away from the apparent contradiction in that statement.‘Now you’re going to please me even more.’‘Tell me. I’ll do it,’ he replied as my power surged in his veins and the talons of it sank into his consciousness.I felt Rake and Jesse both tense and alarmed—confused—but they would see.I took the final steps to completely close the distance between Khush a
~ CASIMIR ~I regarded my council of Advisors for a moment, considering my options. They were all far too important for me to wash their minds clean and risk taking parts of them or limiting their capacity, so I’d only used the compulsion to keep them still and silent. And unaware of my conversation with Khush.But now I spoke to them through the link we’d maintained, letting that thread thicken slightly to take a small, needle-like path into their minds.‘You’ll remember nothing except that Khush was brought to me and we discussed the Reaping. I am unhappy with how he went about it, but pleased that he did not subvert me, only took the most efficient route to find the Queen.’
~ CASIMIR ~ When the whole scene had finally played out and Khush was excused, Jesse stood at my side with folded arms, smelling a little uneasy. “Rake, would you please escort the Queen back to her chambers?” I asked quietly. “Then come back here. We need to determine the best and fastest way to remove those who are a threat—” “No, Cazz, don’t!” Rake was nodding and beginning to pull at Jesse’s elbow, but she ignored him and stepped towards me. My hackles rose. I had to swallow back the urge to bark at her not to interrupt me—or contradict me in front of others when her opinion hadn’t been sought. “I will come to you as soon as we’re done here,” I t
~ JESSE ~Cazz wasn’t happy, but what else was new?But then I realized, what was actually new was that I could tell he was unhappy without looking at him. He was carrying a tension and disapproval that was reaching me through the bond. Because for the first time I could remember, he was keeping the bond open. He’d held it since we started talking and he hadn’t let it go. Hadn’t shut me down.My heart beat faster.It had been thrilling—and a little bit scary—to discover that we could talk in each other’s heads. But then he opened the bond further and started letting me feel him… I didn&rs
~ JESSE ~“Cazz, please!” I tightened my grip on his shirt and he froze. “I don’t want you to leave. I don’t want to be away from you. I love it when we’re together,” I admitted carefully. “But… a few hours ago you did incredible things to me that made me feel for you. And then you just walked away! And you keep doing that. Every time we’re together you leave me like a bad smell.”“I am King, Jesse. It is my life to serve the pack and Ghere had found—”“That’s not what I meant and you know it!”Cazz’s jaw was tight, his eyes wary
~ CASIMIR ~I was pretty sure if I didn’t get inside her, I was going to eat her alive.Scooting with her in my lap, still straddling me, I got her so both my knees and her back were flat against the wall. Then I flipped open the wide, leather cuffs that had been secured directly to the wall and first lifted one of her hands, to strap it in so her hand was levered above her shoulder, but with her arm comfortably bent so she could relax. Then I did the same with her other hand on the other side.So I straddled the banana-seat, while she straddled me and her hands were secured to the wall behind her.Her breasts rose and fell with her heavy breathing, and her eyes were bright with desire.Overwhelmed again with how much thought she’d put into this, for a moment I just took her face in my hands and kissed her. But that drew us together—my cock pressing against her, and I couldn’t resist rolling my hips, teasing
~ CASIMIR ~“I made a new Den,” Jesse whispered, her hands over her mouth, staring up at me—those beautiful eyes wide, but also a little fearful. “I know it’s not the same, but I got Ghere to help me because he remembered what things you’d had before and… I hope you like it.”Like it? Was she serious?My heart was slamming against my ribs, and I was having trouble breathing.The room seemed smaller than I remembered because the walls were painted a dull black. But the tighter space than what I’d had down next to the Den just made it feel more intimate.There were two lamps, one on each end, and a chandelier high above. Candles everywhere, though she hadn’t lit mo
~ JESSE ~It was Cazz’s turn to plan the monthly date. But I was humming about this one. Things were finally ready, and impossibly, Ghere had helped me successfully pull off the surprise. But I still had to figure out how to get Cazz there without ruining it.He’d taken me out to the meadow again—my favorite date. Though we’d enjoyed several others now too—and we’d just finished eating. He was leaning back against the cab of the truck, looking out at the city lights, his brows a little heavy.“What are you thinking about?” I asked him, though I had a hunch.He had his arm around me and I was leaning on his shoulder. His hand trailed up and
~ CASIMIR ~I came out of the bathing room after a long bath rubbing my hair with a towel, to find my mate standing in the middle of the chamber with her arms folded and looking sternly at my daughter, who sat on the floor in nothing but a diaper, with her chubby legs straight out. She, too, had her arms folded and her lips pursed in the perfect reflection of her mother.The two glared at each other and half my heart went cold, while the other half wanted to splutter with laughter.“Abigail, I have told you—”“No!”Our daughter could only get her tongue around a few words so far, but
~ JESSE (a few weeks later) ~I had just finished nursing Abigail and was holding her on my lap while Reeca sat with me on the couch.Her eyes were bright and she was beginning to smile, so I was tickling her cheeks to see if I could get her to do it. But she was sleepy because she’d just eaten and only yawned and cooed.“She’s a very calm baby,” Reeca commented from the other end of the couch, smiling. She loved babies, and had been so helpful when I was tired—and just for reassurance for me.She was a calm presence in any room, and with Abigail, she showed a lot of delight and joy that she seemed to stifle in other areas of her life.“Reeca,” I said carefully, because I’d b
~ JESSE ~I was too tired to do more than lift my hands to his neck, so I just curled my face into his chest and let him settle us into the chair, cradled in his arms with my ass in his lap.When he’d sat, I had my head resting on his shoulder and my body curled in his arms.“Do you hurt?” he asked quickly.“No, just tired, like I said.”I felt him relax a little then and another chill started in my blood.“Cazz… what’s happened?” I asked quietly.He turned his head to meet my eyes and lifted his hand to comb hair back from my face. His throat bobbed, but his touch was g
~ JESSE (Hours later) ~My dreams were disturbing—my body in pain, screams of terror, darkness, the floor shaking, the mountain falling, humans fleeing and wolves…I tried to break free, tried desperately to open my eyes and to speak, because I knew I was asleep. But all I did was fade… in and out. The nightmares, or nothing.And through it all, his voice.“Heal… live.”My heart ached. My body hurt. My chest didn’t want to expand. It was as if my flesh fought his words, and I didn’t understand.But finally, the dreams faded and I could hear a heartbeat. Little, and quick. And feel warm flesh. And the breath of my m
~ CASIMIR ~I felt the moment the power went out of Jesse. The entire mountain felt it.I howled with triumph and shifted, sprinting towards the room, ecstatic when there was no sense of Maya gripping my mind or stealing anything from me. But of course, there was no power left for her to steal.I prayed and pleaded and ran, Rory and the others coming in my wake. And the moment I broke through that door in my wolf—the only power left to me anymore—everything slowed. Though my body whipped and my mind was singularly focused, it was as if everything happened in slow motion.I caught a bare glimpse of Jesse on the bed, and at first my heart leaped. She was moving, awake, aware,
~ JESSE ~Maya had me sitting up in the bed, curled forward, gripping my knees. Reeca on one side, helping prop me up, a guard on the other.My body was nothing but a conduit for pain. Wave after wave, my entire lower body condensing, contracting, pushing to get this baby out. I could barely think.Cazz was there, so quiet, so distant, but there, calling his encouragement and pushing love at me through the bond.There was a moment when I thought I wouldn’t make it, when I thought my body would give and I would just drift away.But then I caught Maya smiling. Leaning forward between my legs, reaching, grasping, for