10. Maverick
CHAPTER 10
Maverick
H ow had it been more than a week since our return to the Werewolf Territory? Of watching Diana at a distance, and wondering how things went so wrong between us?
Things on the mainland and during our travels had been so good. I’d almost earned her trust back.
So fucking close…
I’d been so close to having her and everything that came along with it—and now it was as if she was under a spell and could no longer see me. For a second there, the tension between her and Raven made me think I still had a chance. That she could get over me allowing her to take my place with Malach. But even when I’d proven to be strong…strong enough to spar with the bastard and even get in my own licks, she’d pitied me.
And rescued him.
I fisted my hand more tightly around the pint of ale I was nursing and winced as my grip slipped.
It was a fucking double-edged sword being in the Territories. On one hand, the witch’s curse was weakening me more quickly than ever, causing tremors and body aches as if I were as old as my true years. On the other hand, being here also made the Grimoire’s spell for power and fortune stronger than ever. With the enhancements it gave me, I could actually hold my own in a fight with Raven now.
For a short time, at least.
But now I was paying the price. My whole body felt like I’d been hit by a truck, and even with Sienna’s help–after she and everyone else took care of Raven first, of course–my face felt like someone had gone to town on it with a meat tenderizer. I took a long pull from my pint and let out a snarl.
After weeks of putting up with him trying to unman me at every turn–as if I had somehow done him wrong–I’d finally snapped. I’d let my pride take the wheel instead of using my head.
It was a mistake. I could see it clear as day now. There had been no reason to insert myself into their little bloodsuckers’ sparring match. If only I’d sat back and let the worms do their work, Diana likely wouldn’t have even gone out there to…what? Rescue me like a fucking child? He might have died before the others even knew what happened. Instead, I decided to take advantage of the situation and swing my dick around a bit.
Look where it had gotten me. If Raven had ever trusted me even a little, that trust was gone, and now surely even gullible Diana had me on the short list of suspects. I’d likely never be allowed into the inner circle again. Which would make my plan a whole lot harder, if not impossible.
“Motherfucker!” I smashed my open hand against the scarred wood of the bar and pinched my eyes closed as agony ricocheted through every bone in my body.
“Eh, bad day?”
I blinked up at the hulking bartender, his amber eyes seeming to search my soul.
“A lot of bad days strung together, my friend,” I managed through the pain.
He grunted. “You and me both, buddy, you and me both. What a fucking mess out there. First queen ever, only months since her father passed, and look where she’s taken us? Fucking shit show central, battles with demons, allying us with the fanged ones. It’s unnatural, I tell you. She’s a fool, and she’s going to get us all killed. I knew it the second old Lycan started grooming her for the job. Alpha wolves are male for a reason. Females are too emotional to make the hard choices.”
“It’s been a trying time. The world is splitting at the seams.” I pressed the frothy mug of ale to my lips, keeping my expression carefully blank as I looked around carefully. “You think a king would have done better than she has, all things considered?”
“I know it, man.” He paused and leaned forward. “You don’t have to look around before you speak here. We’re all of the same mind in this neck of the woods. Diana did it to herself, you know. She fucking aligned with the vamps? I don’t care how bad the weather gets, or what goddess bitch is kicking up dust storms, that’s a never for me. We’ve been enemies for all time for a reason.” He spat to the side, a gob of black chew.
“Might as well join us hip to hip with burning trash then say we smell like spring flowers.”
I held my beer up to him in a salute. “Can’t fault your reasoning there. Trash indeed.”
The bartender swiped a rag across the bar. “Names Teeter. Who be you?”
I held out my hand. “Maverick.”
Teeter’s eyes narrowed even as his hand engulfed mine. “You were with her, weren’t you? On that gods’ forsaken quest that brought the demons down on us?”
I didn’t pull back, knowing it would be seen as a sign of weakness. Instead, I ignored the ache in my creaky joints as I tightened my hold. “I did everything I could to save her from herself and stop this madness, Teeter. But she wouldn’t listen to me. She won’t listen to anyone but that vampire, Raven. He’s got her ear for certain.”
“You tried.” Teeter nodded and patted his other giant mitt over top of our joined hands. “Good man, good man. You did what you could to sway her. Can’t ask more than that of a man who ain’t wolf, eh? You’d never live long enough to win that argument with a know it all bitch like her! Ha!”
He let me go and went back to serving some of the other patrons. My knuckles pulsed from the intensity of his grip. It was one of the things that had made me shy from Diana the first time—so much passion in every part of her. Her eyes. Her touch. Her desire had even made me falter. Not that I’d ever said it out loud.
Still, Teeter’s words rumbled through me, swirling around as if they were trying to tell me something important. Something I needed to grasp from this short interaction. And if my cursed life had taught me anything, it was to listen to my instincts.
To survive when everyone else thought I wouldn’t.
Like escaping the demons.
Escaping the territories.
Surviving the storms Lilis had sent.
Letting Diana sacrifice herself to take your place with Malach on the beach that day.
My gut roiled, and I took another swig of beer.
That part couldn’t have been helped, but there was no doubt it had made her see me differently.
Chickenshit.
The nickname was the kicker. The thing I’d let get under my skin the most. It was easy to be a tough guy when you were all but immortal like Raven and his kind. Before I’d found the witch’s hut, I’d been nothing more than a flesh bag waiting for death or an accident to befall me. A sickness that settled in my lungs, or an errant arrow that caused a festering wound I couldn’t recover from. And still, I’d prevailed. Through the torture of demons that had broken so many before me, through the curse of a witch who couldn’t handle being outplayed, through the terror of being dragged into a water dragon’s lair. It was me, Maverick of the desert, who had come out on top.
And I would come out on top again. I just had to use the gifts that had gotten me this far…
I looked around the bar, studying the disgruntled faces of those around me, the tiniest kernel of a brilliant new plan forming. Influencing people. That was my strength. But how to best use it? What did I want most?
A conversation with Diana from all those years ago came back to me, and I sucked in a sharp breath. The answer to all my problems was right in front of me. Saving myself from the curse. Solidifying my future–
Teeter came back and offered me another ale which I gladly took.
“On the house.”
“No. I want to support you and this fine establishment. In fact…” I pushed my chair back and climbed up on top of the bar, letting my body sway as if the drink were getting to me. “Drinks all around, on me!” I lifted my beer high as the small but rowdy crowd broke out in cheers at my announcement and all the pieces clicked into place. The start of a game I knew I could win.
It was a risk. If there was a single supporter of the crown here now, I could be signing my death warrant. But despite what Raven thought of me, I’d never shied away from a little risk…
“A toast to Diana, the Queen of the wolves!” I felt the room pause, sensed the eyes narrowing, but I stayed in character, letting my smile falter, letting my sadness at losing her show through, a slosh of beer rolling over my fingers. “May she soon break the spell that bloodsucker has over her and see the light. May some brave wolf step forward to claim her. And may he lead her with a strong hand and a brave heart, root out the bloodsuckers, and take you all back to what you were always meant to be. Warriors!”
I tipped my beer back as the pub erupted around me, and Teeter grasped my calf to steady me as I fake wobbled.
“Fat chance!” a voice called. “She’s been here alone for decades upon decades, turning her royal nose up at any suitor with the balls to try and mate with her. What makes you think there’s even a chance she could love another?”
I let out a soft, sad laugh. “I don’t think it, fine sir. I know it. She loved me once…until that vampire came along. She offered me a life with her. To lead with her at her side. I was a fool to deny her, but I would give anything to go back and do it again.”
Two beefy men who had been throwing darts in the corner paused and exchanged a look. “The hell you say? And what would be different this time?” the bigger of the two demanded.
“I’d get her in line. Guide her the way a male should.”
“Atta boy,” Teeter pulled me down, nearly crushing me with his thick bicep around my neck in a brotherly embrace. “She loved you, did she? Make your move then, man.”
I clasped a hand on his shoulder. “If only I could, Teeter. But I’m just a human…” I let out a heavy sigh and moved to turn from him.
“And he’s a damnable bloodsucker. Far worse.” He gripped my shoulders and spun me around, his amber eyes searching mine with a near-fanatical light. “What if there was a way to show her just who you really are? Would you take it? A way to do all that you want and more?”
I stared up at him. “I would do anything for her and the territory she loves so much.”
His pursed his lips and nodded. “You… you are who we’ve been waiting for, Maverick. Moon goddess be praised, you finally arrived.”
As Teeter turned away, calling to someone named Staven, I could almost smell it.
The winds of change…the promise in the air.
The end of the past and the start of the future.
My future. As king.