Chapter 4 #3
When he finally broke the kiss, both of them were panting. Her lips were swollen, her eyes half-lidded, body flushed and trembling—but not from fear.
From want.
Adonis pressed his forehead to hers, his voice wrecked and low. “You are mine.”
Betsy blinked, chest heaving. Then—slowly—a wicked smirk curved her lips. “That’s one hell of a first impression.”
Adonis growled, the sound reverberating between them. “You knew the second I walked in.”
She didn’t deny it. Couldn’t. The moment he’d crossed the threshold, something inside her had shifted. Snapped into place. Like a missing part of her soul had just walked into the room naked and furious.
And she’d liked it more than she wanted to admit.
Still, she wasn’t one to swoon.
Her eyes slid toward the vampire groaning at her feet. “You done declaring ownership, or should I let him know he’s got more time to beg?”
Adonis’s gaze didn’t move from her.
Didn’t even glance at the bastard.
He leaned in and brushed her mouth with his again. “I’ll handle it.”
Then, with a voice like damnation, he whispered, “Stay right where you are, siren. Don’t move an inch.”
Betsy’s heart pounded, her skin on fire, but she held his stare. Held her throne.
And when he turned to face the vampire—a god of vengeance, glowing with power and primal fury—she leaned back and crossed her arms.
Unbothered.
Smirking.
Because the vampire was already dead.
He just didn’t know it yet.
* * *
The Stavros primary home compound was quiet.
Too quiet.
Nestled deep within the ancient forests that had shielded their bloodline for generations, the grand estate sat like a sleeping beast—massive, old-world stone laced with modern luxury.
The scent of firewood and cinnamon drifted lazily through the halls, a soft hum of warmth curling around the polished floors and towering ceilings.
Inside the main dining room, Atlas sat at the long, hand-carved table, a glass of whiskey untouched in front of him.
One powerful arm draped across the shoulders of his mate, who leaned into him with the kind of intimacy earned through fire and blood.
Her scent—jasmine and moonlight—helped ground him, tethering the alpha wolf to the man inside.
Across the room, Ares stood with one arm braced on the mantle of the stone hearth. The flames danced across his sharp, brutal features. His mate lounged nearby, her laughter soft and low as she recounted something that made the corner of his mouth twitch—a rare, quiet smirk from a man born of war.
They had earned this peace.
They had killed for it.
But peace was always temporary.
Especially for wolves like them.
Atlas’s phone buzzed.
A single vibration. Short. Sharp.
He didn’t recognize the number at first—but the ID flashed across the screen in red.
Adonis.
Atlas frowned, his spine straightening. He wasn’t supposed to hear from him this soon. Not unless something had gone wrong.
Very wrong.
He answered on the first ring, voice clipped. “What’s wrong?”
There was no small talk. No lead-in. No easing into the fire.
Adonis’s voice hit like a blade—raw, ragged, and dangerous.
“She’s mine.”
Atlas went still.
Across the room, Ares’s head snapped toward him, every muscle in his massive frame locking into place. His golden eyes narrowed, instantly reading the shift in energy.
Atlas’s hand clenched around his phone, his pulse thundering in his ears.
“What?” he breathed.
Adonis exhaled hard through the line, but it wasn’t steady. Not even close. “Betsy,” he said. “Candy’s sister. She’s my mate.”
The words struck like lightning.
Atlas sat up straighter, his entire body going cold with realization. “Shit.”
Adonis. Their oldest brother. The Alpha of the entire goddamn North American packs. The strongest, most dangerous of them all.
He had found his mate.
And she was a siren.
Atlas could hear it—feel it—in his brother’s voice: the strain, the fight for control. Adonis was barely holding on. And if he lost it? If the bond took hold too fast, too hard?
There wouldn’t be a force in the world strong enough to stop him.
“Where are you?” Atlas asked, rising from his seat.
“I have her,” Adonis said, his voice flat, his breathing sharp. “She’s safe. For now. But I need you here. Now.”
“Understood,” Atlas said immediately. “We’re on our way.”
The call ended. No goodbye. Just a click and dead air.
Atlas stared at the screen for a beat, heart pounding. Then he slowly lowered the phone, his face tight.
Ares was already pulling on his leather jacket, his jaw a stone slab. He didn’t ask what the call was. He knew.
“What’s wrong?” Atlas’s mate asked, concern cutting through the air like a blade.
He turned to her, his expression solemn. “We have to go.”
Ares grabbed the keys off the table. “Adonis?”
Atlas nodded once. “He found his mate.”
Ares froze, the shift stirring beneath his skin so violently his mate stood too, tense and ready.
“Who?” she asked.
Atlas’s voice was low. “Betsy.”
His mate gasped. “Candy’s sister?”
“Yeah.”
Ares cursed under his breath, tossing the keys in the air and catching them with a snap. “A siren,” he muttered. “Of course it’d be a siren.”
Silence fell.
A heavy, electric silence thick with understanding.
Sirens weren’t like other supernaturals. Their power was old. Seductive. Unruly. Combined with a Stavros alpha bond?
Volatile.
“She’ll trigger the claim fast,” Ares said darkly. “And Adonis? He’s too strong to fight it for long.”
Atlas nodded grimly. “If the bond locks before she’s ready, before he’s ready…”
Ares didn’t have to finish the sentence.
They’d both seen it before. A wolf gone feral from an untethered bond. Unstoppable. Devastating.
His mate moved toward the coat rack, already shrugging into her jacket. “Are you calling Aeolus?”
Atlas hesitated.
Aeolus was the last resort.
Because if Adonis was on the edge…
Aeolus would shove him right over it.
Not out of cruelty. Out of loyalty. Out of love.
The youngest brother had always been the most ruthless when it came to protecting family.
“No,” Atlas said finally. “Not yet.”
Ares gave a short nod. “Smart. We need to get eyes on the situation first. Stabilize it if we can.”
Atlas ran a hand down his face, then turned to the door.
“Let’s go.”
And just like that, the wolves moved—leather, steel, and fire—into the night.
Because when an alpha as powerful as Adonis found his mate?
It wasn’t just love.
It was war.