Chapter Four
Scepter watched the scene unfold, hating to keep up the pretense he was frozen.
“Easy, big guy,” the female named Jenna said, holding her hands out. He wanted to snort and tell her she was delusional if she thought that would stop Savage if he chose to attack.
The young female wouldn’t look his way. He could smell her hurt and anger and wondered who’d caused the pain rolling off of her. He looked toward the shifters with her and could see the evil rotting within the alpha.
Savage seemed to be baiting the newcomers, smirking as the female’s two mates growled. The female smacked her two mates' chests while holding Savage’s gaze as if he were of no consequence to her. Scepter wanted to rub his temple.
“I think it’s your big guys you need to be speaking to, female.” Savage emphasized the word your making Scepter wince.
Jenna nodded. “Noted.”
This time, it was Aurora who growled. Scepter could’ve told the female she didn’t need to worry. Once a vampire claimed a mate, they never strayed.
Savage eased his arm behind Aurora, pulling her against his side. “Trust me, Aurora, you’re the only female I will ever want.”
“Weirdly enough, I do.” Her lip curled, revealing small white teeth.
“Dear Goddess, I think I might throw up,” Starla muttered.
Scepter blinked, wondering how the others hadn’t heard her.
“Keep looking at me like that, and you’ll find yourself in big trouble, Savage.”
Savage ran his tongue over his fangs. He let Aurora and the rest of the room see them. “Don’t tempt me, Vita Mea.”
“While this is all very entertaining, you two. We’re here for reasons other than watching the both of you make moon eyes at one another,” one of the males said.
Scepter wanted to thank the male for the interruption, as Savage and his mate’s overwhelming smell of their need flooded his senses.
Savage glared at the male to the right of Jenna who’d spoken. “Why exactly are the three of you here, and how the fuck did you get into my inner sanctum?”
“Ah, I knew you were a full-blood,” the male on the left said, raising his chin as if he were looking down on Savage.
“You say that as if it’s a bad thing. What are you exactly?” He waved his hand toward Scepter.
That was Scepter’s cue to pretend he was released from the thrall Savage had placed on them all.
He wondered how pissed the male would be if he knew his powers didn’t faze him the way they did the rest of the clan.
Savage sent him the information while he was supposedly frozen, so he didn’t need to worry about being in the dark.
If a battle were to go down, Savage wanted backup to protect his bonded mate and her sister. Scepter would always protect Savage, and now, by proxy, he’d defend Savage’s mate and her family.
The two males' eyes darkened. Their anger radiated out in a fierce wave that threatened to send him to his knees.
Savage pushed back, making them both stumble. “Do not think to overpower me with your worthless efforts in my house, boys. I don’t know who the fuck you are, but I’m not some lesser vampire the two of you can overtake.”
“Do you realize who we are?”
“Please, enlighten me,” Savage bit out.
“Our father is the Vampire King, Damikan.”
Savage let out a low chuckle. “The hybrid breeder?” He’d heard of the male, but he’d never met him. “I am a full-blood, as you said—the same as your father. What sets your father apart from me is that he mated with a wolf and gained the ability to walk in daylight. Guess what?”
Savage opened his arms wide, showing the tattoos that marked his skin.
“I, too, can walk in the daylight. Unlike your father, I did not need to mate with a wolf to do so. You see, throughout the years, we’ve found ways to circumvent what has been the curse of our kind.
So tell me, why do you think I should tremble at the mere mention of you or your father? ”
Scepter and the others in their territory considered Savage their King. He was the Mafia King of their territory by right and by blood. These males would find that Damikan wasn’t more powerful than Savage.
“What the fuck does that mean? Do you have wolves as blood slaves?” Jenna asked, taking a step forward.
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard, and trust me, I’ve heard a lot of senseless shit in my five hundred plus years. And while it pisses me off to answer you, I will because I can feel the way your accusation has made Aurora stiffen, and that’s the last thing I want.”
“You do not speak to our Hearts’ Love with that tone.”
Savage shifted Aurora behind him, turning to face one of the males.
“I’m not going to fight the two of you in my office, while my female and her sister are within arm’s reach and could possibly get injured, or worse.
If the two of you want a war, by all means, say the word.
I can and will take you up on your offer, but I’ll move it to a location where I choose. ”
Aurora ducked under his arm. “Let’s not and say we did.”
“See, this is why females should run the worlds,” Jenna said, shaking her head.
“You two promised you would behave. If you don’t do as you said, then I’ll have no other option but to send you both to time out.
” She leaned forward, holding her right hand next to her lips.
“They usually enjoy it when we have those little bits of alone times, but between the two of us, they won’t be so happy if I’m not there when I send them to Fey.
Especially if they’re stuck hanging out with Belle and her granddragons alone. ”
“Honestly, I feel like I’m in some sort of alternate reality, or someone is punking us. What the flying fuck are you talking about?” Aurora asked, rubbing her temples.
Scepter wanted to raise his hand and tell her he agreed with the alternate reality shit.
“Oh, I’m sure there’s flying fucking on Fey.” Jenna nodded.
“Woman, you’re testing both of our patience here?”
Scepter couldn’t help but smile. The woman obviously loved to agitate others, even her mates.
Savage held up his hand. “Which one are you?”
“I’m Damien, and that one is Lucas. We are not identical.”
Savage snorted a laugh. “Of course you’re not.” Savage agreed while nodding and began holding up his fingers for each point. “You both have the same color hair and eyes, and look exactly the same, down to the clefts in your chins, but yeah, let’s go with what you said.”
Starla giggled. “He’s kinda obnoxious. I approve.”
“Oh, goody. There’s a deranged female with twins, not identical ones, to the delulu crowd, and a pack of frozen kidnappers, who I still need to kill, probably, plus a vampire who has claimed me. Honestly, life just keeps getting better. I think I have a fucking migraine,” Aurora groaned.
Savage turned around, giving his back to the room. Scepter shook his head, placing himself between his Boss and the trio.
“What do you need? Tylenol, Ibuprofen, or an ice pack?”
“Room to fucking breathe without a bloodsucker breathing down her neck?” the one named Lucas muttered behind his hand.
Savage glared at him over his shoulder. “She has two of you.”
“And that means what?”
“If I kill you, she still has another,” Savage snarled.
“Yeah, I like him,” the young female said in a snarky reply. The twin grimaced, but Scepter ignored them both as his body reacted to the young girl. He glared at her and then spun away. What the fuck was wrong with him? She was a child.
“Focus. I feel like my head is going to explode.”
“Did you?” Aurora looked up at him with wonder in her dark gaze.
“Did I what?” Savage’s tone held a hint of shock.
The blonde stood across the room with her mates, looking way too innocent.
“What did you do?” Aurora asked.
“I eased your pain. Well, I just took it away. You had a little lesion that your wolf hadn’t healed all the way. It was tiny, so I fixed it.” Jenna dusted her hands together.
“Thank you,” Aurora said in a breathless whisper. “I felt like I was going to stroke out or something.”
Jenna nodded. “If you were human, you probably would’ve.
Anyhoo, back to the reason we’re here and how I knew one of mine had somehow crossed over.
You see, I haven’t always been the best guardian, for lack of a better term, of my people.
I am the Fey Queen. My Fey left the realm and journeyed here to Earth for many reasons, but one was because humans are amazing beings.
My Fey mated with them, and that was how they created shifters.
I should’ve been watching and realized these shifters were.
..were. Anyway, for years, these beautiful beings—such as your father—were left without protection.
Most of them were hunted and either killed or enslaved.
My Fey either returned to Fey, or like your mother, they stayed and mated with their Truemate, or as my mates call us, their Heart's Love. Whatever we are called, a bond between mates should never be broken or severed unless death occurs.” Jenna took a deep breath while her mates ran their hands over her shoulders and down her arms.
“Oh, I think you’re the Jenna our mother spoke of. But wait. What does that have to do with me...us?” Aurora waved her hand in an arc.
Jenna gave a sad smile before she spoke.
“I wish I had gotten to meet your mother and father. When I finally became a better Queen, I vowed to protect not only my shifters, but all the people who were created by my Fey, along with my original Fey, and the people on Earth who the Fey magic has touched. Ten years ago, I felt something that must’ve been you accessing the Sacred Tree in the Hoh Rain Forest.” Jenna looked at her mates before turning back toward Aurora.
“I’ll show you,” she said, raising her hands.
“No,” Savage barked. “You’re not taking us anywhere.”
The tiny female rolled her eyes. Scepter chuckled at the look of horror on Savage’s face. He needed to chill, or he’d be stroking out.
“Silly vamp, I was only going to show them images in their minds. And no, it probably wasn’t dirty images. Well, not all dirty.” The crazy Fey actually winked at Savage like he wasn’t about to rip their heads off. She was seriously off her rocker.
Savage pressed his forehead against Aurora’s. Scepter didn’t need to link with the other man to know he’d been picturing a dozen ways to kill the female and her males.
“So, you touched a tree and learned all kinds of important stuff about your heritage, or at least half of what you are. How about the shifter side of you? I have met many shifters who literally go feral when they can’t let their beasts out on the regular. Don’t you have the urge to—”
“Howl at the moon and find a willing man to slake my insatiable urges during my Heat?” Aurora asked. Her words made Savage go stiff. Scepter pinched the bridge of his nose. The younger female groaned.
He looked down at the blonde, who was too young for him, and thought of her having urges as a shifter would typically have. It took more effort than he liked to admit to quell them.
“Why are you grinning like the Joker in Batman?” Aurora teased Savage.
“I was thinking of males I’d have to kill.”
“Ah, he was contemplating your past and needing to make a list of anyone before him who might have seen you naked and had the misfortune of...” Damien bent over, coughing, unable to continue speaking.
“Excuse me? You’re seriously thinking you have the right to kill anyone I’ve slept with?” Aurora pushed Savage away from her.
Scepter’s brows shot up as the female made his Boss stumble away with her strength. “Are you okay, Savage?”
“Yeah, she’s surprisingly strong.” Awe lit Savage’s entire face as he spoke.
“Well, that list is going to be really short. Like, you won’t even need to leave your office or break a sweat since I know for a fact that my sister hasn’t ever had a boyfriend, let alone a lover.” Starla slapped a hand over her mouth.
Aurora hung her head as if ashamed. However, Scepter watched his best friend puff out his chest. He looked at the younger girl, seeing the blush on her face, and saw the innocence she couldn’t hide, either. How long would that last, he wondered?
“You can wipe that shit-eating grin right off your face, Savage. I was celibate by—”
Savage covered her lips with his, silencing the nonsense she was going to spout, which would piss him off.
“So, about the frozen shifters. Care to explain about them?” Jenna asked, her purple eyes bright with curiosity.
Scepter blinked as he stared down at the males who’d been surrounding Starla. He didn’t like them.
“Do you think if we ignore all of them, they’ll take the hint and disappear?” Savage asked.
“Starla, are you in pain?” Aurora asked.
His gaze snapped to where the young blonde female paced in a tight circle.
Savage pointed at the twins and their female. “Stay right where you are. This is between the sisters.”
“I am the Fey Queen, young vampire. Those two females are mine.”
He pointed his finger at her, then at Aurora and Starla. “That’s where you are wrong, Fey. I don’t give a fuck if you’re the Queen of the Earth or wherever the Hell Fey is. They’re mine.”
The male hybrids covered the distance between him and them, slamming Savage against the far wall. He heard shards of glass shattering, but his focus was on Aurora as she stared in horror at him.
“Protect my female,” Savage ordered Scepter.
His anger nearly bubbled over as his first need to protect the young female almost had him defying Savage for the first time in over five hundred years.
“Ah, fuck,” Scepter said. His tone was even, knowing it pissed Savage off.
“Protect my female and my sisterkin.” Savage used the term reserved for family when he spoke of Starla. He showed his claim covered them both for life, regardless of whether he lived or died.
“Yeah, that’s your job, Boss.” Scepter grabbed the two males holding Savage by the back of the neck, pulling them away from him.
“Dear Goddess, save me from stubborn males.” Jenna walked over to Aurora and Starla, patting the younger girl on the head.
“Easy, wolfey girl.” Starla went limp, floating as if she were lying on a platform.
“Don’t worry, Aurora, your sister will be better than fine.
I swear to the Moon Goddess and to all I hold dear.
I’ll also handle these overgrown boys, as your mate called them, and I promise I won’t harm a single hair on any of their heads.
As for that one”—she pointed toward Scepter—“I don’t think anyone has claimed the sexy, blond, Viking-looking one, so if you want, I could hurt him? ”
A growl rattled up from Starla, shocking Scepter and Savage into stillness. Jenna’s eyes widened. “Well, that’s unprecedented.”
“Ah, sheot. She’s a baby for fuckssake,” Scepter muttered.
Starla roared, and then she shifted into a giant silver wolf.