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Getting the Last Word
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
The Alpha's Warlock Hope for the Best, But…
Chapter 12 Hope for the Best, But…“Look, this stuff isn't going to work,” I said for the millionth time.Maybe only the fifth or sixth time. But still. Ian and Matthew were both leveling identical glowers at me, their brows furrowed and their arms crossed over their broad chests. I turned a laugh into a cough, and they frowned in unison. I choked down another laugh and leaned back against the kitchen table of the pack house, taking a load off, since it looked like we'd be here arguing for a bit. My ass ached, and the boots I'd found in the pack house's hall closet to cover my stolen super-socks didn't fit quite right. I needed the boots, though, if only to keep Ian from ripping the socks off my feet. He’d actually growled when he saw them on me that morning.I was finally caffeinated enough to deal with it, though. Ian and I had slept all night tangled up in each other's arms, and he'd slipped out of bed at the crack of dawn, taken a shower, and set a hot cup of coffee down beside
Last Updated : 2024-10-29The Alpha's Warlock Out on the Town
Chapter 13 Out on the Town“I’m not actually a bad driver.” I jumped, startled out of my funk, as Ian spoke for the first time since we’d gotten in the car — I glanced at the clock on the dashboard. Ten minutes ago.“What?”Ian pressed his lips together, hit the gas so hard I jolted back in my seat, and shifted gears with a force that would have cracked the shifter in a car that wasn’t as sturdily built as this one. Figured that Ian would have some muscle-car nightmare. He’d probably restored it himself, since he had more time than money.“You’re white-knuckling your seatbelt,” he said. “You don’t need to. I drive just fine. Matt drives like someone’s grandma. I mean, he drives a hybrid.” There was enough contempt dripping from that last word to qualify him for a bit part in a BBC costume drama.I started to laugh, and then I pictured Ian in a waistcoat and my brain shorted out for a minute.“Hello? Nate? Anybody home?” he asked irritably. I came back to reality again, a little dist
Last Updated : 2024-10-29The Alpha's Warlock On the Run
Chapter 14 On the RunI wiggled my hips, trying to hoist myself a little higher on Ian’s back. “Sorry, I keep slipping,” I muttered.“At least you stopped telling me to mush,” Ian shot back.“Only because I believed you when you said you’d drop me.”Ian snorted and tightened his grip around my thighs. It had taken all of half an hour of fighting our way through thorny bushes and tall weeds and mud, and more mud, before he’d rolled his eyes, stopped, and leaned over so I could climb on — and another thirty seconds before I pissed him off. But hey, in my defense? I honestly wasn’t trying to be a jackass. I thought maybe what we needed in this situation was a little humor, so sue me.Note to self: alphas had no sense of humor about dog jokes. To be fair, I probably should have been able to work that one out on my own.“You still not getting any signal?” he asked.I pressed the button on the side of Ian’s phone, where I had it awkwardly poised in my left hand. My right arm was wrapped a
Last Updated : 2024-10-29The Alpha's Warlock Out of the Frying Pan…
Chapter 15 Out of the Frying Pan…“A cocktail lounge?” Whatever I’d been expecting when I stepped through Dor’s door, it wasn’t booths upholstered in blood-red velveteen, a long polished-wood bar, and a small stage set with a microphone and a chair. I would’ve just called it a bar — I mean, I didn’t have any pretentions to being Frank Sinatra — except that Ruby’s Cocktail Lounge was written on the wall over the bar in loopy gold script. “Seriously? And where are we?”The place was empty, as you’d think it would be in the middle of a Tuesday, with curtains pulled back from the front windows to let in natural light. But it had a seedy vibe all the same, like the ghosts of all the dicks sucked in the corners of the room were haunting the place even when the bar, sorry, lounge, was closed and the drunks were at work nursing their hangovers.Ian’s grip loosened a little, but he didn’t let me go or move from my side so much as an inch. “Kind of cliché, isn’t it? You know. The red velvet,
Last Updated : 2024-10-29The Alpha's Warlock …Plan for the Worst
Chapter 16 …Plan for the WorstCharlie’s studio apartment was surprisingly dusty and plain for belonging to the same guy who thought red velvet and gold script were tasteful. At least it had a functioning bathroom, because the second I woke up, sprawled inelegantly across a faded old futon, I needed to get rid of about a gallon of coffee. The bathroom was obvious, so I staggered in there, took care of business, and staggered back out.Ian rolled over with a groan as I approached. They’d left him on the floor.I wasn’t sure if I was more annoyed or amused by that, but either way, I bit my tongue. He had a dust bunny stuck to his ear and his eyes weren’t quite focused. Poor guy didn’t need me laughing at him on top of it.Openly, anyway. I was definitely laughing on the inside.“Hey,” I said, crouching down next to him. “You okay?” Dor’s magical whammy seemed to have hit Ian harder than it hit me. I was fine, now that my bladder wasn’t about to explode.Ian blinked at me and sat up, b
Last Updated : 2024-10-29The Alpha's Warlock …And into the Fire
Chapter 17 …And into the Fire“Why here?” Ian muttered.Dor had crossed over the northeastern edge of the Kimball territory, passing through the Kimball wards without even a ripple. I forced down the envy that rose up to choke me. I’d be capable of that kind of magic, I knew it — if I’d ever had anyone to teach me. Which made me sound like that bitch of an aunt from Pride and Prejudice, with her I’d have been a proficient if I’d ever learned bullshit, but I kind of got where she was coming from. How were you supposed to reach your potential if you didn’t even know what steps to take to get there?Anyway, Dor was a million of those steps ahead of me, and that was depressing, but it wasn’t the most important issue. I got my head out of my ass and focused. We were a mile or so inside the Kimball territory, but we were right near the road that led southeast toward the Armitage territory. I thought it was fairly obvious why we were here.So did Dor, by the way he sighed, so faintly it wa
Last Updated : 2024-10-29The Alpha's Warlock A Family Reunion
Chapter 18 A Family Reunion“No,” someone was muttering. “No, no, no, no, no…” It took a moment for me to realize it was me, sounding like I was on the verge of a panic attack.By my tingling fingers and the way the top of my head felt like it was buzzing and about to fly away, I was past the verge and plummeting down fast.“How the fuck has he hidden from us all this time?” Charlie, coldly furious. And glaring at Dor, like this was his fault.Dor drew back, offense in every line of his stiff body. “I wasn’t looking for him,” he shot back. “Were you?”“No,” I whispered. “Oh, no.” Everything was blurring in front of me. Tears. Those were tears, making my vision go all swimmy.Charlie turned and looked at me, and then really looked at me, frowning, his blue eyes narrowed and almost glowing. “You’re afraid of him. He’s your father. I’d think you’d be the only person who’d be happy to see him alive.”I felt like I was choking. Happy? Fucking happy?“He’s not happy because he already fuc
Last Updated : 2024-10-29The Alpha's Warlock Blood Will Out
Chapter 19 Blood Will Out“You know that would never work,” I said dully. “We both know it. But there’s an alternative.”My father frowned down at me. “This isn’t a negotiation.”“Yeah.” It wasn’t. And I had to choose my words incredibly carefully, because the faintest hint that I was getting what I wanted, rather than giving in to what he wanted, and he’d say no on general principle. “But you think I’m going to try to escape, somehow. I won’t. Break the bond between me and Ian. The ritual can work if I help, and I will. Let him live, let him go, and I’ll mate with any other alpha you pick.” His brows drew together, thunderclouds on the horizon, and I hurried on. “I would anyway, because I don’t have a choice. But I won’t fight it. Not ever again. You’ll get more out of me if it’s voluntary. And you’ll maybe be able to mend fences with Matthew, and not have the Armitage pack as enemies.”My father snorted and shook his head. “You think you’re so clever, boy. Always have. You think I
Last Updated : 2024-10-29
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The Alpha's Warlock Epilogue :You Don’t Want a Choice
EpilogueYou Don’t Want a Choice“Mr. Castelli,” Laura said, and smiled warmly. “Go right in. He’s never too busy for you.”“You know it’s Blake.” She shook her head, laughed, and went back to typing.I hadn’t yet given up on trying to convince Declan’s assistant that I didn’t deserve any particular formality; after nearly four months of trying, though, I’d started to fear it was hopeless.I set the double latte I’d grabbed on my way at the edge of her desk—if she insisted on calling me Mr. Castelli, I’d at least make sure she said it with affection—and stepped into Declan’s office.He glanced up from his laptop and then immediately back down again, which I knew meant “I’ll forget what I was typing if I don’t do it right now.” At first that’d hurt my feelings. Shades of being treated like an unwelcome and disliked inconvenience at Castelli Industries, of so many times I’d been called on the carpet in my father’s office only to be ignored until he deigned to notice me. But I knew it w
The Alpha's Warlock A Lucky Man
Chapter 21A Lucky ManIf I’d really tried, I might’ve been able to look at a calendar and count how many times Declan had laid me out on his bed, naked and waiting for him to take what he wanted.But I didn’t need to count to know that it’d never been like this.He settled me on my back, head carefully placed on a pillow, kneeling between my legs and leaning down to stroke a hand through my hair and down my cheek, coming to rest across my throat. Instead of a threat, it felt like safety.All right, a little bit of a threat.But that only had my cock perking up, getting harder every second that he pinned me down, glowing eyes fixed on my face with an intensity that would’ve had any sane man running away screaming.Or spreading his legs.I went with option two, letting my knees fall open to give him full access, my arms relaxed at my sides. Touching him—I wanted to, and I would. But right now I knew what he needed from me, and that was complete surrender, allowing him to re-stake his
The Alpha's Warlock Ten Years Ago
Chapter 20Ten Years AgoNo matter how many times I’d daydreamed about Declan kissing me, the reality far outstripped the fantasy—and how often could you say that about anything? His mouth took control of mine the same way his body had taken control of me so many times, opening me and tasting me and laying me bare for him to use however he wanted.Which happened to be what I wanted too, so badly that I ached for it. His tongue teased between my lips and twined with mine as his arms tightened, gathering me so close that not a millimeter of space was left in between us.Declan kissed me until I couldn’t breathe, my lungs hot and laboring. All the pain and fear of the last few hours melted away, a much better and more natural kind of magic than the ones I’d experienced so far tonight.I pressed against him, kissing him back with everything I had, trying to spread my legs and wrap myself around him and take him into me so that he’d never leave.Declan tore his mouth away and lifted his h
The Alpha's Warlock My Life Mattered
Chapter 19My Life MatteredWhen I woke up, the SUV was moving—but I couldn’t shift so much as a muscle. My head had gotten crammed against the door and my neck ached like a bitch. My arms lay limp, one dangling to the floor of the car and the other on my leg. I tried to twitch a finger.No go.I couldn’t open my eyes, either, or speak. My autonomous functions weren’t affected, though: I could still hyperventilate. Lucky me.Kidnapped. I’d been fucking kidnapped, and the first thing Declan would do would be call me. No doubt they’d gotten rid of my phone. Then he’d look for me. He wouldn’t find me. And then he’d probably request—and be allowed, professional courtesy and all that—to review the security footage of me leaving the party and the path I’d followed from there.For a brief, shining instant, I almost felt relieved. Declan would look for me, he’d see the video and know—despair squeezed my chest into a tight ball.He’d see me looking nervous and running out of the building as i
The Alpha's Warlock This Won’t Go On
Chapter 18This Won’t Go OnDeclan hustled me out the door the second I emerged from the bathroom, ushering me downstairs and into a waiting limo. A nice one: black, not too stretched, no neon lights or anything tacky, nothing I’d have to be embarrassed about riding in.I tried to focus on how good it felt to be wearing decent clothes, going somewhere in a respectable vehicle, and for fuck’s sake, actually leaving the Morrigan and going somewhere, rather than on being in an enclosed space with Declan and our combined scents of sex and alpha desire.If I focused on that, I’d end up begging him to knot me in the car after all.The limo pulled out of the Morrigan’s driveway and into traffic on the Strip. It was Friday night stop and go. Maybe we had time for a fuck after all?“Where are we going? Am I allowed to ask?”“Not far,” he said, putting paid to my hopes. “A few blocks. If I’d been going with Wa—colleagues I probably would’ve walked. I thought you might appreciate going in style
The Alpha's Warlock I Missed Your Voice
Chapter 17I Missed Your VoiceSince I’d never slept in Declan’s bed before, I woke up confused, disoriented, and with a mouth that tasted like someone had murdered a particularly sandy desert and buried its corpse under my tongue.Well, that last part didn’t have anything to do with Declan’s bed, to be fair.I rolled over and groaned, throwing an arm across my eyes to keep the sunlight out, because someone had left the blinds wide fucking open when he got up and went to work.I knew I’d be fine once I had a couple of glasses of water and a bite to eat; hangovers weren’t really that much of a thing for werewolves without serious effort involving multiple illicit substances, and I hadn’t been to a party that good in like, six months. But seriously. Close the damn blinds. Fuck.It crossed my mind to find my phone, make some coffee, and send him a text complaining about the window.And then I sat bolt upright, head in my hands, and let out another groan.I’d slept in his bed. We hadn’t
The Alpha's Warlock Kind of Endearing
Chapter 16Kind of EndearingI woke up the next day just after eight o’clock, early by my previous standards but late by the standards of the company I kept these days. The cold coffee pot, holding only a few teaspoons of dregs, told me that Declan had been up and gone for hours. The usual hundred dollar bill sat beside it.That felt a little bit like I’d been slapped. I’d sat there and worked on that stupid spreadsheet for three full hours the day before without even getting up for a glass of water. I’d only stopped when Declan stood, put on his jacket, and told me it was quitting time.But apparently he assumed I’d be right back to blackjack and vodka today.Well, fuck him.I made a fresh pot of coffee, ordered some room service—an omelet, because I knew if I had any carbs at all I’d fall asleep with my face in the keyboard—and dressed in the closest thing I had to what the other people I’d seen in the offices had been wearing, black slacks and a blue button-down. I couldn’t wear a
The Alpha's Warlock Try Me
Chapter 15Try MeLetting it all go seemed easy at first.I’d spent so many years showing—and allowing myself to feel—only the most surface of emotions: anger, entitlement, arrogance. Under the circumstances, I chose to temporarily trade those in for indifference, apathy, and resignation, but it was just as fake and just as likely to keep people from looking any deeper.My family hadn’t looked any deeper. Neither had Declan. Clearly, no one wanted to.And it worked. When I didn’t try to fight back, didn’t bother arguing or demanding answers, Declan didn’t go out of his way to humiliate or torment me aside from the rough, careless way he used me. He texted me at some point during the day to let me know when he wanted me available to be fucked, I awaited him obediently, and he fucked me. Sometimes he put me on my knees instead, or in addition to. I opened my mouth or spread my legs, and I moaned and cried out when he made me come, but I didn’t talk more than I absolutely had to.I took
The Alpha's Warlock What’s Worse?
Chapter 14What’s Worse?Declan’s knot hadn’t gone down at all by the time I blinked my eyes open and slowly came back to reality, lying on my side with Declan wrapped around me from behind. The bite he’d left on my neck throbbed in time with my heartbeat. I could feel his, too, syncing with mine and vibrating through my back.And I felt safe again, which made me want to throw up and then run away screaming.Well, he’d already made me scream. Running away was out. And it’d suck to throw up all over the bed and be stuck here.Unfortunately, that left me with nothing to do but lie there enclosed in his arms listening to his steady breaths in my ear, savoring the heat of his body and the softness of the bed.Ugh. Savoring. I really was, and it made me swallow hard against a wave of real nausea.But it suddenly occurred to me that maybe Declan felt something similar. Pheromones. Hormones. Borderline mating-magic. I couldn’t be the only one completely at their mercy, could I? He might not
