Chapter 36
Kaden
The crowd stills and I clamp my hand onto Max’s thigh to keep her rooted. I see the flash of panic in those expressive eyes—she’s going to run.
Running with shifters is a bad idea. Their baser needs will give way to chase and I can’t have them catching her, claiming her in their frenzy.
There’s only one person who is allowed to claim her. Me.
Wulf continues on, judging each of us silently. “The Hadeon is more than a creature to pass. He is a guardian to the village.”
I remember the story, of the creature being given to Wulf’s ancestor during the Great War. Seti, the God of Death and ruler of Hell, blessed him with the Hadeon for protection for bravery shown during the war.
“He does not leave our tunnel, he does not pass into our village. Except for now.” Eyes flash, a shift of his inner beast trying to come out. “He looks for someone. One of you. So, I ask again, who does he seek?”
The woman at my side shifts, uncomfortable with attention. She’d be more comfortable hiding away, avoiding this, but her jaw clenches and her body tenses as she rises.
Cursing, I stand, following her lead. I refuse to let her face this alone.
Wulf’s eyes find her, across the flames, and rake over her lean body. It’s not assessing or clinical but hungry. His inner wolf sees her as its next meal and it’s already trying to figure out the best way to have her.
I know, because my beast has done the same.
Growling, I grab the blood summoner’s wrist, holding her back. Wulf doesn’t deserve the pleasure of seeing something that I’ve deemed mine.
Fee’s hand clamps down on my shoulder in warning.
I have to listen. Otherwise, I might find myself challenging him in his territory.
And I really don’t want to have to kill him.
“It was you?” he drawls, looking to her lips. Possessiveness so strong rips through my body as I nearly lunge.
“Me.” She nods. “Without me, he’d have died.” She shoots a withering glare at the few Humans still alive. They pointedly ignore her. “It was the right thing to do.”
“You saved him?” Wulf asks, amazed. “A slight thing like you helped that beast?”
He points to the entrance, around the front of the meeting hall. The Hadeon sits there like an obedient pet, all three eyes watching the group of people with unabashed hunger.
Except for when he sees Max. His eyes soften, and his body lowers in submission.
Gods. He’s as smitten with her as I am.
When I glance back, I take note of how Wulf watches her.
Max bites her bottom lip and I have to fight the urge to rip that lip from her teeth and lay claim to it for myself. To do something, anything to stop Wulf from looking at her like she’s a gift from the Gods.
Another growl lets loose, and I have to shove the beast further back with a savageness I’ve never showed before. It’s feeding off my chaotic mood, wanting to break free. It wants to claim the blood summoner but so do I. Desperately.
She’s supposed to be a tool for my father and yet? I can’t stop thinking of waking up next to her every morning. Seeing her smile. Feeling her beneath me after a long day in my lands.
I don’t want her as a weapon. I just want her.
“Yes. Why is that so hard to believe?” Her voice is so soft but it carries. “It shouldn’t be punished for being misunderstood.”
I can’t help the pang in my heart. She did the same for me. Because she understands me.
Wulf drops his square jaw into his meaty hand, nodding at her. “I think the Hadeon might be here for you, then.”
“For me?”
He waves away her concern. “The Hadeon is a guard, but he is a creature of Seti. He was never meant to stay with us. Gods, even after my great-great-grandfather passed, he was supposed to move on. I think he might have waited for the right person.” His eyes glow. “You.”
She glances to me for clarification. “The creature is a gift. But once the person it was bonded to died, it should have returned to Seti. He never did.”
“Because he wanted me?”
I nod the barest amount. “Perhaps.”
If so, that makes Max much more valuable than a simple weapon.
Being a shifter, Wulf does not possess magic, but the ability to change into his true form; it makes him closer to the Gods, and therefore, he can see things we all cannot.
If the Hadeon is trying to go to Max, then Seti is offering his most loyal beast to a woman who is worthy of his attention. Which means Wulf wants her.
Over my dead fucking body.
Max is mine.
“Seti only thinks those who know death are worthy to have a Hadeon. For what is life without death?” Wulf says, watching Max react.
She pulls up her tunic, hiding her scar. Fear wafts off of her and I fight the urge to whisk her away. To keep all of this from her.
The only thing this woman should fear is me. Not some imaginary haunt. She’s too powerful for that.
Fuck. Fiery Bel’s balls, I’ve lost my fucking mind.
“He’s a gift then?” I ask, voice cool. It hides everything I’m feeling.
“He’s more than a gift. He’s a loyal protector. He will fight any threat to the woman until their bond dissolves.” The huge man shrugs. “Whenever that might be.”
The Hadeon takes that moment to glide into the village, right to Max’s side. He barely ruffles the ground, as light as a feather in the wind.
Lowering to her feet, content to lay beside her, he huffs. Her protector.
Max lets out a strangled laugh. “I always wanted a pet.”
Wulf doesn’t hear the Humans’ pleas for help. In fact, he actively avoids it, extending the time by the fire with stories and wine.
The men are idiots, letting the shifter lead them astray.
These are tactics my father uses when he wants an audience without actually helping. Wulf wants to seem charitable but instead, he’s using these men for entertainment and to feed his ego.
By the time the moon draws high, I can feel the toll it takes on Max.
I can only imagine the exhaustion that lines her bones. Max’s magic is unpredictable, surging with her emotions as well as with her defenses. It wants to protect her as a sentient being.
Thankfully, she can’t use it against me. If the magic was smart, it wouldn’t trust me.
Brows pinched, Max leans forward as if to fall asleep and I grab her, pulling her to stand with me.
“We’re retiring,” I say. The trek to camp won’t be too bad to return now that the Hadeon is on our side. And I’d rather keep her away before Wulf gets confirmation of what she is.
Why she’s so special.
The leader stands too. “We have cabins for the travelers. Let us show you hospitality. We can talk tomorrow of the threat you face and the resources you need.”
The thought of staying in his village causes unease to settle in my gut.
Here, I’m at the mercy of Wulf and his shifters. Max is vulnerable. My siblings are. We left the guards at the camp; stupid, really. We should have been more prepared.
But I only thought of getting Max to myself. My impatience is going to be my downfall.
Tugging on me, Max gives me a pleading look. “We can stay one night. If it helps us deal with the Crimson Army, then it’s worth one night in a warm cabin.”
Fuck the Crimson Army. Fuck the Humans. They’ve never been my concern. It’s always been Max.
I want her home, with me, where I know I can protect her.
But I can’t deny those eyes. She’s going to drop if she doesn’t get some sleep, and I don’t want her killing the entire village in her fog of exhaustion.
Agreeing, we follow Wulf to the far back of his village.
My senses are on high alert. Surrounded in this small alcove, I know no army nor beast dares to come here. Wulf’s village is too removed, too hidden, that it’d be a risk to attack. No one knows what they have here.
But I sure as fuck don’t trust the shifter.
Wulf takes us to the edge of his domain, where tree branches scratch at the roof and shadows hide twin cabins. He opens one door, showing two small beds with thick blankets in a wooden home and fur covered floor.
“These should be to your liking.”
Sizing Wulf up, my sister enters the open door, Reid following on her heels. Checking the second cabin, I find the same set up and no surprises.
“Thank you,” Max offers, coming closer to the male, wringing her hands. “It’s appreciated.”
I can’t help the growl at their closeness as Wulf preens under her gratitude.
I want to shove my sword through his neck.
“You are quite welcome.” He inhales, breathing her in. As a shifter, his sense of smell is even better than my beast.
I hate knowing he is sharing the same air as her.
“I must say, you are quite fetching.” She blushes. Blushes. The woman who gets under my skin, who drives me insane is blushing. “Where did you say you’re from?”
“She didn’t,” I interject, running my hand over her hip, marking my territory.
If I have to bury my fangs into every exposed piece of flesh, cover her in my scent, just to keep her mine, I will.
Gods, what is wrong with me?
“We should be headed to bed.” I push the blood summoner into the cabin, my message clear to the shifter: she’s bunking with me and he’s out of luck.
The godsdamn brute doesn’t take the hint as he leans into the opening, holding the ends as if to stop from lunging forward.
She looks at him, unflinchingly and I smirk.
“You smell odd, flower.”
My body physically shakes with rage at the nickname.
Fee’s eyes flash with warning from the stoop as if to bring me back. I can imagine hearing her rebuttal. You’ve got it under control, huh? But I’m too incensed to listen.
She raises a delicate eyebrow. “Smell?”
“Didn’t you know, kitten,” I practically spit out. “Wulf can shift into a wolf. He can smell you from miles away.” He’s scenting the unholy magic in her and I drop my hand onto the hilt of my sword just in case.
“That seems like an odd thing to say.” Her eyes dart to mine, unsure.
As if to make a point, he inhales deeply. “Not for the Phoka. We are but animals in our souls. We use scent to mark territory or to detect what someone is. You smell… exquisite. Not quite Human. Not quite Witch.” He breathes again. “Something else entirely.”
Panic flashes in her eyes before I cut in, body shielding the shifter’s gaze.
“Come now, Wulf, you know how rude it is to sniff someone you’ve just met,” I sneer. Baring my teeth, I narrow my eyes on the leader. “Next time you want to smell the woman, perhaps it’ll be after I’m done with her? I’m sure she’ll smell absolutely divine then.”
My fangs elongate with the just the idea of sinking into her, letting the warrior smell us. I want to douse the woman in my scent, cover her with my fluids. Claim her in the most intimate ways I can.
Because she is the missing piece I’ve searched for and no one is going to have her but me.
“Good night, shifter.” I slam the door in his face and bolt it for good measure.