Helen’s POV“I’m going back to check the other rooms,” I said.I went up and down the hallway three more times. On those trips, I found one more room that had nothing but several bodies, and then I rescued two more male werewolves and one more female. None of them looked lucid enough to share their experiences with us.Though, after seeing them in that state, I honestly didn’t care whether they had been fooled into working with the Huntsman or whether they had consciously made the decision. It was clear he didn’t care even for his own companions or those serving him. And no matter what the Huntsman had said to gain the trust of these werewolves, I was sure it didn’t involve the truth because there was no way that anyone would have gotten willingly involved with a demon, was there?I shuddered at this mixed feeling of compassion. Perhaps I should let Justin deal with these people that we found. They could be given a trial if necessary, and we could find out whether or not they willingl
Justin’s POVIn the pause, while I waited for Randy’s answer, the silence seemed to drag on like something physical. How could it take so long to spit out such important words? Had we killed that bastard of a wizard or not?“I didn’t get to it myself,” Randy said. “I’m actually on my way to confirm now. Julianne’s husband, Peter, got ahold of Martin. He was the closest, and after we told him about Julianne being abused by the Huntsman, I’m sure he wanted a chance to take him down.”I growled. “I wanted a chance to take him down.”Randy let out an answering growl. “I did, too. But Peter was in the correct position to dish out punishment.”Randy sighed. “At least poor Julianne didn’t have to go through what Helen went through.”“We hope,” I added, crossing my fingers for that one.“I’m gonna get off the phone now,” he said. “While I am verifying the body belongs to the wizard, why don’t you give Russo and Lisa a call and let them know that things seem to have gone pretty well here? They
Justin’s POVWe locked the door behind us, and I grabbed the edge of Helen’s shirt, lifting it off over her head. She didn’t have a bra on, and her breasts greeted me with a tantalizing bounce and stiff nipples. I bent, taking one in my mouth and running my tongue across the raised pink button.Helen moaned and stroked the back of my head with one hand. With the other, she undid the button on my jeans, sliding her hand inside the pants and gripping my shaft through the fabric of my boxers. My cock throbbed at her touch.I’d had to work to hold myself back this time. I didn’t want to come before she was ready again. Especially since . . .“Helen,” I panted. “I want you to have my pup. Are you willing to have a baby with me?”She faltered a moment. “I thought there were issues. I thought you had to have sex with me in your lycan form, and that was too dangerous.”I pulled my shirt off, then hugged her to me so our naked torsos were pressed together. The heat from our skin mingled and te
Helen’s POVI left the backroom with Justin, feeling much more settled than I ever thought I would have after everything I’d gone through. If he could really control Beowulf that much, it showed me how hard he’d fought himself and how much he’d come to terms with who we were as a couple.When we got back to the room that had the pool tables, a bunch of the warriors from the True Mates pack were there helping with the injured captives that we’d set free. As if she knew how much they meant to me, Julianne was guarding the little group of pixies who sat on top of a table. She shooed away any of the warriors who came over and tried to help with them.“You’re back!” She gave me a wave. “Did you work everything out between you?” she asked when I got close.“Yes. Hopefully, things will go as well with you and Peter.”She bit her lip and looked down at the table. “I hope so, too. In the meantime, the pixies wanted to go with you, and I figured you’d want the same. So, I wouldn’t let anyone el
Russo’s POVAfter I’d gotten the call from Justin, it took a few minutes for his words to sink in. We were free. We were safe. It had been so long since I’d had those things that it hardly felt real.Lisa must have felt the same because, after her initial tears of relief, she set about cleaning up the mess we’d made doing the ritual. The church might have been abandoned, but leaving our pentagram and offerings behind seemed tactless.I silently got to work, helping her. She loaded up the expired materials, and I searched the closets until I found an old mop and bucket. While the ink we’d used did mop off the floor, something about the ritual had etched the symbols into the cement, leaving rough outlines even after the drawings were removed.Well, I was the best I could do. If anyone bought the place, they could always cover the marks with carpet or hardwood. Once everything was clean, Lisa and I left.She paused on the stairs out of the basement. “We can’t just throw the remnants of t
Helens POVReuniting with everyone at my house passed like a whirlwind. We had to trade hugs and stories of what we had all accomplished.At first, I had worried that maybe my friends wouldn’t consider my contributions to be anything. I felt like they had all done so much more than me. Randy and Justin led the warriors and got rid of all of the Huntsman’s henchmen. Lisa and Russo had done the rite, which had burned the beast back to hell.And then there was Julianne and me. We had just been captives.But somehow, Justin and Randy, and Russo and Lisa all considered rescuing the Huntsman’s other captives to be just as important as anything that they had done. For the tiny part of me that wanted to argue against them, I shut it up.Any recognition was better than having them blame me for not being helpful or, worse, for jeopardizing our plan by getting caught in the first place. I wouldn’t have been able to take it if they all hated me.Justin and I had taken a nap when we got home since
Helen’s POVLisa reached across from the chair she was sitting on to the couch where I sat and gripped my hand. “I didn’t say anything about the Huntsman to scare you. I can see it on your face that you’re terrified. But I don’t think that there’s anything he could do to actually turn you into a demon.”Her expression remained serious. “But that doesn’t mean that you might not have gained some power that we don’t understand. I don’t think that this has ever been a thing before. I’ll have to do some research, and, now that it’s safe for them to come out of hiding, I will definitely consult with witches and wizards who are far better trained than I am.”“I’m still fairly young, so there’s a lot that I haven’t run across before, even though I have plenty of raw talent, which I can go ahead and admit now. I’m sure the Huntsman would have been happy to get his hands on me and train me up the way he trained Martin.”She shuddered. “Not that I ever would have worked for him. But I had to hid
Helen’s POV“I’m not worried about the Huntsman coming back,” I admitted, guilt beating at my chest. I” keep having dreams about having sex with him.”My voice had dropped to a whisper, and shame filled me to the core of my being.“Like he’s raping you?” Justin growled.“Worse,” I admitted. I felt sick to my stomach.“I feel horrible about the nightmares,” I said. “Because in the dreams, I like having sex with the Huntsman. I want him to fuck me. It’s like when I was under the spell, Martin cast over me. Somehow I feel like the spell is still there in my sleep, and I don’t want those feelings.”“I want the images of us in bed together to go away. Every time I wake up, I feel like I’m going to vomit. Can you understand why I didn’t really want to admit that to you?”“Justin, the last thing I want you to think is that I desire the Huntsman in any way. He abused me. He locked me up, and he raped me. He put me under a spell and took advantage of everything I had. I just . . . I don’t want