Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Blood Kingdom
Freya
I howl.
I am the night, the moon, wolf.
Growling savagely, I lope up the cliff’s sandy path. My blood-red fur bristles, while shadows trail from me as sharp as spear-tips.
The fiery dawn is chasing at my back.
I will catch my prey before the sun catches us all.
I sniff, chasing the scent of the two predators who are also out here in the world of sand.
They have been hunting me throughout the night under the stars, as much as I have been hunting them.
My thick, padded feet scrabble on the rocks, as I speed up after my quarry.
My enhanced senses have made the night as bright as day. They also make scents easy to trace: sunlight, frost, oak and incense.
My Alphas.
My ears prick up, when I hear a gasp of pain like someone has hit their head in one of the small caves that riddle this cliff up ahead.
The cave is too small for me to wriggle into it, but not too small for a fae or a Shadow Vampire who are fleeing from the burning sun.
My smart Alphas.
I snarl, hurling myself at the cave entrance.
Two sets of eyes — lavender and wine-red — stare up at me from the dark.
“Hello, love,” Daire taunts. “What are you going to do now?”
My lips curl back from my fangs. I pace in front of the low cave. My shadows weave furiously around me.
I crouch down, scrabbling with my paws at the sandy entrance. I snap with my jaws, as much as I know that it’s pointless.
Daire laughs brightly.
I should have known that my Bandit King, who has fought guerrilla warfare for a decade, would outsmart me with sneaky tactics. It’s interesting that Lanlin has stuck by his side, barely letting go of his hand.
Daire won’t be laughing for long.
I take him by surprise by transforming back to my human form and wriggling into the dusty cave.
“Fuck,” Daire whispers.
Fuck is right.
I grab Daire by his curls, still flooded with the instincts of my inner wolf, then do something that no Omega shifter ever should to their Alpha, no matter how much I know Daire wants me to by the inviting way he tilts his head: I bite his throat.
Daire gasps with delight. “Harder.”
I meet Lanlin’s piercing gaze over Daire’s shoulder, before I bite him harder.
Lanlin’s pupils become blown at the sight.
Instantly, he drags Daire’s hair out of the way, before sinking his own fangs into the other side of Daire’s throat, sucking his blood.
Daire moans, rutting his hips against mine.
Finally, I lift my mouth from his skin, licking over the imprint of my teeth. I purr, satisfied to have marked him.
I lean up, kissing Daire. “You’re caught.”
“Then I hope that I will always be caught, love,” Daire murmurs.
I feel pheromone drunk. I think we all are.
Lanlin raises his head from Daire’s throat. His fangs glisten with crimson. When he claims my mouth in a savage kiss, I taste Daire’s blood on his tongue, and my pussy becomes wet with slick at tasting both my Alphas intimately mingled together like this.
My wolf thrills at sharing the conquest of the hunt with Lanlin.
Lanlin’s eyes gleam when they meet mine like he understands me; understands this side of me.
“Thank you.” It doesn’t feel adequate. Nothing could. “On the moon, tonight has been the freest that I have felt…ever.”
Lanlin studies me closely. “Do you know who placed such cruel, powerful magic on you?”
My heart speeds up.
Shit, can Lanlin hear how fast my pulse is throbbing?
Lanlin arches his brow expectantly.
“What I know,” I reply, not directly answering, “is that I thought I would always be a non-shifter, and I’d come to be okay with that.
I’ve stolen, schemed, and used my smarts to survive just as I am.
I don’t need status, power, or magic. But I want to do more than survive, you know? For years that was all I focused on.”
“Someone took this shifter side from you. You don’t need it, but it still belongs to you, as you have shown me that I deserve touch.
” To show what he means, Lanlin tightens his hold around Daire.
I remember how far from everyone Lanlin stood when I first met him.
I would never have imagined that he would be snuggling this close to us in a tiny cave, looking relaxed and happy.
“But when I discover who locked away your beautiful wolf side, I will hook out their guts, then throw the cur out into the desert for a Night Hunt with the Fang Born, which my Queen will lead. As a wolf, you will show this kingdom how to hunt down our enemies and devour their organs.”
Wow.
Disturbing but also creative.
Daire turns his head, raising an eyebrow at Lanlin. “You’re a psycho.”
Lanlin gives a ghost of a smile. “So, make me worse.”
“I think we already do,” Daire mutters. “Good for us, aye?”
“Hmm.” I glance out of the mouth of the cave.
The night sky has already turned to violet, and a rosy light is slanting through the cave’s entrance.
“We’re trapped.” Worry shoots through me. “We played too long. The sun’s already risen.”
Lanlin rests his head on Daire’s shoulder. “I would never cut short your fun, dearheart. The night was yours for as long as you wanted it. Everyone’s first experience shifting is special.”
“Also special is not bursting into flames.”
Lanlin lazily rolls onto his back.
I gasp, as he throws his hand out inches from the light.
“Are you worried for me, my dear?” He drawls.
“Nebek would send me out into the lonely desert to harden me for my missions, when I was younger. If I didn’t find shelter in time, then I would meet the same end as any Shadow Vampire who is caught under the sun.
Several times, I almost burned up like a candle.
But I also soon mapped the caves, learning the importance of escape routes and surviving, as you did.
Yet it is strange how tempting it was to walk into the sun. ”
“I get it.” Daire strokes my back with his wings. “But we fight on, aye?”
“Don’t you dare.” My throat is tight. “You have all the sunshine that you need in us.”
Lanlin’s gaze snaps to me.
He snatches his hand away from the light like he didn’t even realize that he had been reaching for it. “I wish that you were not kept in the dark of my nighttime court, but you do brighten it…brighten my soul. I would like to ask you…”
He cuts himself off, as if unsure how to pose the question. With Lanlin, this could mean that he is about to ask us what our favorite flower is or to reign with him over a blood-soaked orgy.
It’s fifty-fifty.
“On Friday night,” he finally continues, “there is a masked ball. It is the largest party of the year, when we celebrate the Night of the Shades.”
Unease curls in my stomach.
This is unplanned.
On Saturday, I already have my wedding to Lanlin and Daire, followed by the Blood Moon rituals.
Why do I feel like an unexpected Shadow Vampire masked ball the night before is a risk that we shouldn’t take?
What if everything goes wrong at the last minute?
Daire and I have hidden our identities so far. We’ve survived this court by keeping as low a profile as possible. Yet we do have enemies after what happened in the throne room to Horus and during the Blood Lover’s Hunt.
“Night of the Shades,” Daire says, carefully, and I can tell that he’s remembering something that Maximinus made him learn for this mission but doesn’t want to show his hand to Lanlin.
“Shades meaning your dead, aye? Are you sure that you want us there for that? I mean, I’m a fae.
Won’t your people see me as responsible for some of those dead?
I’d rather your court can mourn in peace, then my arse won’t be kicked. ”
Lanlin’s jaw clenches. “We remember the dead both new and ancient. Every year, I have had to attend alone, while remembering all those ghosts of my family who are missing. It will be the first time that I will be lucky enough to have someone attending any party on my arm. But if you both don’t wish to… ”
“We do,” I rush to say. “You’re not alone anymore.”
It’s a risk. But I made a promise to Lanlin.
I won’t break it after he returned my wolf side to me.
Lanlin’s shoulders relax.
“Will we have time?” Daire replies more warily. “Our wedding is the next day.”
Lanlin waves away his concern. “Horus plans the Night of the Shades. The House of Crocodile oversees these types of entertainment. The wedding preparations have been underway from the moment that I received the letter about the peace treaty, which was laced with your sweet scented blood.”
“Did you know as soon as you received the letter that you were going to accept?” I demand.
Lanlin gave up so much for the politically arranged marriage with me.
“Why would I not, when I finally…finally…had a chance to bond with the Omega who has haunted my dreams?” Lanlin’s intense gaze meets mine.
I shiver, desperate to be wrapped in his arms. His dominant pheromones flood the cave.
“By the Void, what else do I need to do to prove that my love is true? Take your Night Sky Blade and stab my heart; I would bleed out as a sacrifice for our love.”
This is too close to the betrayal that Aurelius wants me to do to him.
My heart feels like it is shattering.
“My darkness,” I whisper, “what do you want from me?”
“To let me meet all your needs before you voice them, offer you a new home where you reign rather than are ruled, and become your family, as you are mine.” Lanlin twists to hover over Daire and me, pinning us both in place with his commanding look.
“I want your eyes to search for me in every room. Your heart to beat faster, as it is now, at just the thought of me. For you to purr, when you nuzzle my neck. For my scent to cling to your skin. I want you to reach for me every time you wake and need my knot to sleep. I want your bravery, fierceness, loyalty, and surrender. I want your scars and your soul.”
I am breathless.
Unable to look away from him.
Now, that’s a love confession.
“You don’t want much then,” I force out.
My cheeks are flushed.