Javier
A chill worked its way through my spine and I turned away from the men I was training, what was left of them anyway. After the demons' attack, our warrior force was looking pretty damn sparse. And it led me to a conclusion I *really* didn't want to accept.
"There's not enough, is there?" Bo demanded from beside me.
I wished I could slap him for putting that thought into words, but he was right. We simply did not have enough men to be able to both go after Clara, and to protect our Kingdom at the same time.
"No," I let the words leave me in a groan. "Not nearly enough."
Bo tipped his head back and observed the sky. "One of us is going to have to stay, huh?"
I longed to grab a handful of snow and force the other man to eat it. Why did he have to bring things up that I didn't even want to think about? He was right, again. I fucking hated when Bo was right.
"Shut up."
Bo ignored me and jerked to the side. "What the fuck?" he scowled and stared off in the direction we'd left our Luna. His lips lifted and my actions mirrored him. I'd ignored the first hit, I'd almost expected it.
But all three of those assholes? "Fucking hounds."
Bo whimpered. "This is awful. We can't let this happen, Javier. Once she's one of them, she won't need us anymore."
I raised a brow. "You're being stupid, Bo."
"No, I'm being serious. That Raul guy showed me his size, and while I wouldn't mind being rammed by it, I don't want it near Amanda. Not even your best toys are a match, man."
I rolled my eyes at him. "You didn't see how far the Dragon pushed her. There's no way they can top that. Besides, bigger isn't always better. It's what you do with it that matters. I thought you understood that of all people, Bo. I'm going to use the Dragon on you if you keep it up, see how far that slutty hole of yours can be stretched."
Instead of glaring at me, Bo's eyes grew glazed and the tension in him melted away. "Fuck," he whimpered.
I smirked. "In any case, it's still an issue that she just took three more mates without even talking to us first, especially with the danger we're about to go into."
"Then they can stay and guard this place while we rescue Clara," Bo spat.
I didn't disagree, but I highly doubted that was going to be the case. As much as I disliked the hounds at times, I understood they had a pool of powers not available to us, and they would be able to keep our Luna safe.
But I didn't have to like it.
Tyler pulled away from her, brushing fresh blood off his lips from the marking process and glared over at the two of us.
Amanda put a hand against him, pushing him away as she stared defiantly at us. "I've made my choice, and none of you are going to change it."
My lips thinned. This wasn't the same woman I'd hunted down as my weak little prey. It was both insulting and exhilarating at the same time. This one would likely fight for longer before giving in to me. My wolf groaned at the thoughts.
"You didn't talk to us about it at all," Bo challenged, stepping closer to her. "You didn't even ask."
Amanda tilted her head to the side. "Why should I have to ask you? You're my mate, nothing can be done to change that."
I growled at the question. Why should she ask us? It was because we were her mates! We weren't just a fuck troupe. We loved each other, and she was bringing strangers into that circle. "Did you even have Zale's permission for this?" I couldn't stop myself from snapping.
"They all did," Zale replied calmly. "It was necessary."
I snorted. "Necessary? How is that? They didn't even exist to us a couple of days ago."
"And I've only been here a couple of weeks, half of which I was kidnapped," Amanda snapped at me.
Why was she being so defensive about these newcomers? I didn't like it. I had no doubt we were more than enough to satisfy her and the urges that rolled through her. Hell, I was more than enough.
"Doesn't matter, we're mates, we're meant to be. These are just servants to Zale, they need to know their place." I huffed and stepped forward, prepared to beat some sense into the lot of them. Once I put them down they'd know their ranking in this pack of ours.
Amanda didn't move. She stayed between the hounds and me, staring me down like I was the damned enemy. "Javier, they've done something for me that none of you were able to do, I need all of you."
I lifted my lips at her word. My wolf hated being talked to like this. She needed them? "Why?" I snapped. "Is it true what Bo said? You're just too horny for their giant dicks?"
"Giant dicks?" she blinked at me, her brow furrowing.
Raul snickered and hid his mouth quickly, turning his back on us. "Sorry," he gasped. "Couldn't hold it in."
Fucking Bo. Why was he always the source of all my damn discomfort? I could strangle the wolf and still not be satisfied. If we had the time I'd tie him down and give him the full taste of the dragon and not let him have any release besides what the beast gave him.
"This isn't about sex, Javier." She lifted the hair from her forehead and showed off the mark the bitch Goddess had forced on her. It was muted somehow, almost a reddish bruise instead of the black lines that our marks were. "This is what it's about. Raul took the pain away. Your idea helped, but he was doing whatever he could to make me suffer once he got over it. Raul took it all away, sapped his power away like it never happened in the first place."
Each word hit me like a hammer to the heart. She didn't mean it the way I was taking it. I knew that. She wasn't saying that she needed them more than me. That I had failed in trying to protect her. "But why all three?" I whispered.
"They're like you all in a way. It's a package deal. I would have done nothing but hurt the others while they were forced to serve beside me the entire time. Once a hound takes you, the entire pack needs to."
That sounded like a load of shit. I wanted to scream it at her, but buried the feeling deep. No matter how I felt about all this, I couldn't escape the truth. It was clear as the mark on her face after all. It was working for her. Whatever that bastard had done, was helping my mate.
And that was what mattered the most. As long as she was taken care of and spared pain, I'd walk away from her forever if that was the best.
How had I fallen so hard for a single woman?
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