Alpha Protector (Shadow Sentinels World #3)

Chapter 25

S hannon

My top lip curled back, baring my teeth as I watched the dark-haired, ethereal beauty glide through the room toward my soul mate.

Stone’s hand shot out to slash his father’s throat just as Vilderon spat some kind of vitriol. It was enough to stop Stone in his tracks. Airling’s blade dug into Stone’s neck, a warning not to fight, and my stomach twisted. My wolf whined, her distress feeding mine as Airling clipped a silver collar around his neck.

Fuck!

My fury was blinding as his face paled. I remembered what that felt like, to have your wolf caged to the point you couldn’t feel it anymore. I was going to rip her throat out, sister or not. She wouldn’t get away with treating my mate like that. That collar was coming off if I had to break my damned teeth biting through it.

With the collar in place, her blade left his skin, but she didn’t sheath it. My eyes narrowed. Why hadn’t she put it away? I inhaled, snarling at the feel of Fae magic and suspicion thickening the air. These Fae may look civilised on the outside, but all of them were devious, backstabbing bastards when the circumstances suited them.

Airling shifted until she stood between Stone and Vilderon. My fingers twitched. She would be the first to die. She was a cold, evil bitch. Nothing like the young woman Stone had told me about, the one he’d left to try and protect.

The hair on my neck rose when a wide yet empty smile stretched Stone’s lips. It was so forced, unlike any I’d ever seen him give, that it made me want to run in there and drag him out. My claws punched through my nail beds, gouging lines in the layer of solid dirt on the floor of the ventilation tunnel where I hid. It wasn’t a viable option, not with so many guards around, not to mention his sister and father flanking him, but I silently promised him I would get him out, even if I died trying. My brows dipped as Stone’s face fell into a blank mask, but the fury swirling in his mercury eyes gave away his true feelings, even if his attention was solely on his bride-to-be. Stone had saved me, and now it was my turn to get him out of this vile situation.

I wasn’t stupid. I’d seen the guards leave a few minutes ago, which meant I was on borrowed time. They would soon discover that I’d escaped, and then all hell would break loose. I had to hope that in my wolf form, Vilderon’s compulsion would hold no sway over me.

Behind the Fae beauty, who was about to tie my mate to her with invisible shackles so strong nothing but death would break them, was a contingent of Fae that was as dark, deadly, and beautiful as she was. My nostrils flared at the being walking behind them. He’d been there in the office yesterday, his presence dark and unwelcome. It was as if his very being ate up the light. My breath hitched as he walked through a sunbeam, and the light wavered, dimming until he’d passed. I shrank back as he passed close to my hiding place, my eyes glued to his perfectly polished black boots, my shoulders not relaxing until they were out of my vision.

I shifted my position a little so I could see better, wrinkling my nose when the smell of damp and rot from the ancient foundations of the house eddied around me. Just like Vilderon, this place looked beautiful on the surface, but underneath, it was rotten to its core. The only good thing about that rot was it hid my scent. It must have since no one, not even Stone, had turned to face me.

The female stopped in front of Stone. She was tiny compared to him, her head only reaching his mid-stomach. Yet her size didn’t diminish the pain she caused me. After all, she was the one binding herself to him—not me. I’d had my chance to make him mine, and I’d been a coward, too frightened by my past to embrace the future.

Stone looked down at his bride, and I inhaled sharply. His face remained blank, but torment raged in his stormy eyes, along with an agony I’d not seen since the fight rings. There was no thought, no planning. I launched forward, my blood burning with fury. No way would I let him be subjugated again.

The old wooden fretting on the vent was no match for my desperation to get to Stone, and it disintegrated instantly. As I leapt, I yanked up my wolf, fully shifted by the time my paws hit the stone floor. My snarls filled the air as I bounded forward, my eyes fixed on the weapon Airling still held in her hand.

Her eyes widened. Mine narrowed. That’s right. Hurt him, and you will be the first to die, I told her without uttering a word, my bared teeth enough to get my point across.

Stone didn’t rush to me, and my rational brain understood that he must be under a compulsion. Mother Wolf, Vilderon had found his birth name. That was the only explanation. He must have forced it from Stone’s mother before he killed her. Bastard!

Stone’s gaze arrowed in on me, his nostrils flared, his teeth grinding. His hand shook, and beads of sweat formed on his upper lip as he raised it to the collar. Relief speared through me at that sign he was fighting and winning. He was too beautiful and wild to be caged, especially not by a power-hungry tyrant like Vilderon. I howled as my mate’s Fae magic broke through the iron confining it.

Vilderon snarled, his eyes on me, his nostrils flared. “You! You’re a shifter?” He spat the word, disgust colouring his voice. “Your father must have thought it amusing to know I was so determined to fuck you—a shifter, especially when he knew how I felt about my son.”

I bared my teeth and snapped my jaws as I stalked closer, readying to destroy this creature of my nightmares.

Stone growled. “End the evil fucking bastard. You deserve to be the one who does it.”

Vilderon ignored him and kept his gaze on me. Perhaps he finally realised that, at that moment, out of the two of us, I was his biggest threat. “Well, you being here explains why my men aren’t back yet. The cowards don’t want to tell me you’ve escaped.” His eyes narrowed. “Or you killed them.”

“It seems you have been premature in your promise of an alliance.” One of the dark-haired Unseelies said, watching as Stone’s magic-encased fingers curled around the silver collar and bent it.

“No, I haven’t. My son is here and is willing to join our families together. Son, face your bride and take her hand, or I will end this rabid animal you are so keen on.”

A low growl escaped Stone’s throat. “Fuck. You.”

The diminutive female stepped into him, curling her fingers against his waist and craning to look into his face. Seeing her touch him unleashed something feral in me, and I launched into a run, Vilderon forgotten in favour of getting this other female away from my mate.

Vilderon’s voice cut through my rage. “Shannon! Stop!” I felt his compulsion throb against my mind, my paws halting, but I shut myself down and gave my wolf more control. She had no name. She had her own mind, and he couldn’t control her. She shook herself, her gaze narrowing on the Fae female with her hands on our mate. It didn’t matter if this situation wasn't her fault or that she likely had as little control of it as we did. I lunged, my wolf intent on ending the threat of losing her mate. Before we hit her chest, claws extended, she was yanked sideways, and one of the males had his hands in my fur, using my own momentum to throw me across the room.

I twisted and landed on my feet, skidding to a halt.

Energy pulsed forcefully against me for a split second before the ballroom door flew inwards with a mighty crash. Screams poured in from outside, permeating the air and thrusting the scent of blood and vampire into the room.

Vampires! Made Vampires!

How the hell had they made it through a portal? Any portal should have thrown them into the void when it sensed they had no soul.

Stone’s gaze flew to me. He’d broken his father’s hold, yet he couldn’t shift because of the silver. Thankfully, the iron and silver shackles on his wrists had only subdued his magic, not completely imprisoned it. His eyes ignited with purple flame as he fought that constraint. Vilderon had made a mistake by thinking he could control his son. Stone was too godsdamned stubborn and powerful to allow it. Far more than Vilderon ever could be.

“Attack!” Vilderon roared as the vampires fell on the nearest guards. “Kill them all. No mercy!” His seething gaze found the creature, who stood leaning one shoulder against the wall, a satisfied smirk on his too pale lips. Delicately pointed ears peeked through the silky dark curtain of his waist-length hair. Shit. It was nothing like any Fae I’d ever seen.

In the melee of shouts, swords, and teeth, I saw the Unseelie and their guards rush to each other, gathering around the small female. Dark magic formed around their hands, but they had no weapons, and even with their magic tearing apart any attacking vampires, they would be quickly overwhelmed. I’d seen these kinds of crazy-eyed, murderous vamps before. They were infected with the Blood Lust virus. They were out to kill, and nothing but death would stop them.

“Help them!” Stone yelled, pulling a dagger from Vilderon’s thigh and stabbing his chest twice before the Fae lord could stop him. It wouldn’t kill Vilderon, but it would incapacitate him enough to allow Stone to fight without fear of an attack from behind. I hated that the silver would still stop his shift, but Stone was a vicious and skilled warrior; he would be fine even without his wolf. At least, that’s what I told myself as I charged forward to clamp my jaws on the throat of an attacking vampire.

I had no idea why they were here or what the Mades could possibly gain by setting these infected vamps free in Faery, and there was no time to consider it, not when more poured through the doors, overwhelming us.

My teeth punctured the vamp’s skin, blood and rot hitting the inside of my mouth. It was a familiar and vile taste I’d gotten far too used to over the past few years. I jumped back from a Vamp’s long nails and gnashing teeth, shuddering at the red ring around his utterly black irises. It was a telltale sign that they had the virus, one I hoped never to see in anyone I loved. It was a kindness to end him, which I did with my claws. As grim as it was, I continued to slash and bite until the vampire’s head was severed from its body, the only absolute way to ensure its death.

To the left of me, the Unseelie lords tried valiantly to protect the female at the centre of their group. There was no magic shooting from her long, slim fingers, and she had no weapons, but her protectors seemed to adequately keep the vampires away from her. Her head swivelled side to side, her eyes wide and horrified. Clearly, she wasn’t a fighter. My heart went out to her. It wasn’t a weakness to be something other than a warrior, and part of me hoped she never had to discover what it was like to take a life.

I snarled at them to tell them I was leaving and turned my focus to Stone. He’d killed three vampires. At least they were on the floor at his feet, surrounded by a large pool of blood, but they would need to lose their heads to ensure they were definitely dead. Vilderon had recovered from the injury Stone had inflicted, and though he eyed his son with malice, he had no option but to direct his anger at the Mades. He lifted a sword in one hand and made a sweeping gesture with the other, sending a handful of vampires sailing through the air and slamming into the far wall.

“You will die for this betrayal!” he bellowed towards the Fae creature, who just grinned, showing teeth sharper than any I’d ever seen and shrugged before his gaze alighted hungrily on the female Unseelie. The way he stared at her made my hackles rise, but I had no chance to get between them.

Vilderon roared again and swept another wave of magic through the room. It knocked everyone down, friend and foe alike. All except the creature and Stone, who snarled and bared his teeth at his father. “You will not incapacitate me that easily.”

Vilderon snarled right back, slicing through the neck of a vampire. Mother knew where that size weapon had come from when he’d looked unarmed, but it didn’t matter. If he could kill the vamps, I’d let him keep it—as long as he didn’t swing it near Stone. Regardless of how many of our enemies he killed, he was still a dead man walking.