Blood Vow (Blood Moon Rising) (28 page)

Arching her back, she spread her legs just enough to give him a peek of her glistening pussy lips. His mouth watered, he wanted to devour her.

“I love the way we fuck.” She undulated, spreading her thighs a little more. “I love the way you take control of my body.” She slid her hand slowly down her belly to her soaked pussy and slid a finger into herself. She bit her bottom lip and closed her eyes. “I love when you’re inside me, and Rafa is watching.”

His cock throbbed painfully.

Her eyes fluttered open. “I love it when you watch Rafe fuck me.”

He dropped to his knees. She had him. She knew it, he knew it, the entire Lycan nation knew it. “There is nothing I would not do for you,” he whispered.

Moving her hand way from her pussy he licked a long slow swath of her creamy honey. She moaned loudly. “This is mine,” he said, nipping the inside of her thigh. “And this,” he slid deeply into her. “Is yours.”

And she took him there. To that place he had dreamed about the first time he laid eyes on her. The place he never thought he would go with her. The place only she could take him. There was no other for him. In this world or the next.

She quite simply completed him.

Later, when Lucien and Falon strolled hand in hand back into camp, they walked into mayhem. Word had spread about Sasha. Along with the news that Anja had run. Tension was so thick in the air you could cut it with a sword.

Along with pack Ivanov’s tragedies of the day, packs Vulkasin and Mondragon had arrived and were setting up their camp while many of the Ivanov pack sat sullenly at the trestle tables in front of their lodge. One of the council members was just walking away when Falon and Lucien came around to the front of their dwelling.

Lucien scowled and looked beyond the elder’s retreating back to at least one hundred other Lycan who mulled along the sidelines hoping to catch some good action.

“Looks like all hell has broken loose,” Lucien said casually, not wanting to worry Falon. But he’d suspected by the time they returned the entire encampment would be in an uproar. And he was right.

“You slew an alpha, Lucien, and they want to know why,” Falon said, acknowledging the white elephant in the room.

He squeezed her hand. “Rafe has spoken with the council, but I’ll explain myself.”

“Luca,” Falon started. “I forgot something Sasha said before I attacked him. He said he had been secretly ordered by the council to kill me.”

Lucien stopped, shocked by her words, and looked down at her, his eyes searching her clear blue ones. “He said that?”

“Yes. I didn’t believe him, but what if he was telling the truth?”

He nodded, not wanting to believe Sharia would agree to such a thing. “Let’s inform Rafe of this and then decide what to do.”

Moments later in the privacy of their lodge, the three of them discussed exactly what had happened between Falon and Sasha, what followed when Lucien went after him and where they stood now.

Rafael nodded and said quietly, “Two things are happening outside. Ivanov wants to pick an alpha from within and not join with Vulkasin, and the council is insisting on trying Lucien for killing Sasha.”

“What if Ivanov lies about what really happened?” Falon asked, suddenly afraid for Lucien.

Rafe’s face tightened. “I spoke with Yuri, the sergeant at arms, on our way back. He told me exactly what happened, and it was just as you said, but he never mentioned the council taking out a hit on you.”

“Did he say why Sasha came after me?”

“Vengeance pure and simple.”

“What of Anja?”

“She’s gone. Back to Fenrir no doubt.”

Lucien shook his head not understanding that at all. “That monster will kill her.”

Rafael looked hard at his brother. “I hate to say it, but her death would save us future grief.”

“If she gave birth?” Falon asked.

“If she gives birth to that miscreant’s child, then our children will have to live with what that brings,” Lucien said. “Those who sacrifice their lives at the rising will have sacrificed them for naught if Fenrir lives on through his child.”

He walked over to one of the coolers and grabbed two beers. He tossed one to Rafe, then grabbed a water bottle, took the lid off, and handed it to Falon.

“Thank you,” she said, and drank.

After downing half his beer, Lucien asked his brother, “Has Yuri spoken with the council?”

“He was leaving to, right before you came back.”

“I don’t like it. Yuri has had time to think about what he wants out of this deal.” Lucien shook his head. “I don’t trust Yuri to tell the truth now, not if he can become alpha by lying.”

“But Luca,” Falon said, her voice trembling. “The Blood Law is clear: to kill an alpha is to kill yourself.”

Lucien shoved his fingers through his hair and looked at Rafe then Falon. “I’m getting to the point of no return with the Blood Law! Sasha deliberately went hunting for you, Falon! To
kill
you,
an alpha
! He got his due. It’s that simple and if the council has a problem with that, fuck them.”

“I want to know if the council gave Ivanov the kill order,” Rafael said. “If they’re no longer looking out for the greater good of the nation then they are obsolete and need to be banished.”

Lucien downed the rest of his beer and tossed it in the nearby trash can. “Let’s get this bullshit over with.”

For the second time that day, united as one, they walked to the council dome. This time all of Vulkasin and Mondragon followed with Rafael’s Berserkers pulling up the rear.

Twenty-seven

IF THE DOME had been crowded before, now it was wall-to-wall, shoulder-to-shoulder Lycan. Most of the packs had arrived in preparation of the rising. Rafael and Lucien with Falon between them pushed and shoved their way to the dais. Immediately Rafe saw that one seat was vacant. Maleek’s, the council spokesman. Rafe glanced at Lucien.

I smell a rat.

“Where is Maleek?” Lucien shouted above the din of the crowd. Sharia raised her shaking arms for silence. Slowly the din subsided.

“He was summoned but has not appeared,” she said, her voice frail.

“Did someone go look for him?” Rafe asked, trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

Sharia nodded but said, “The convened council has agreed to proceed without his presence.”

“Maybe I haven’t,” Rafael said, stepping on the first step of the repaired dais.

“It is not you who deem what makes a quorum, Rafael,” Sharia said angrily.

“In this case, since I have an accusation to make against the council it’s only fitting that the entire council be present to hear it. It is only fitting that when I make the charge, I can see the reaction of every one of your faces and smell the truth or lies as you say your piece.”

“The council is above reproach!” she shrieked. “How dare you insinuate otherwise.”

“I dare because my chosen one was attacked today by an alpha claiming he was secretly sent by the council to destroy her!” Rafe growled, stepping toward her. Several Amorak moved out from behind the dais as if they could stop him.

“Do you think your goon squad is any match for me?” Rafael sneered.

Sharia’s old brown eyes widened in fear. He lowered his voice, not wanting to scare her because in his heart Rafe knew if there was backhanded dealing among the council the stoic elder was not part of it. “I would never harm you, Sharia. You are the only one here I trust.”

Her brown eyes softened as tears moistened them.

He took a step back and faced the gathered packs. “In three weeks our very existence will be challenged. Only one of us will survive, Lycan or Slayer!” Growls reverberated in the crowded space.

“Our old enemy Thomas Corbet has risen from the dead. The traitorous wolf Fenrir runs free, has marked one of our own and even now cavorts with her! He has only one goal: to aid the Slayers in destroying every Lycan on the planet so that he can begin his own dynasty.”

More growls, louder this time.

“It has been foretold that the power of three is essential to our victory!” Rafael reached down and took Falon by the hand, and brought her up to stand beside him. He motioned to Lucien to take her other hand and step up. As one they faced the crowd. “We!” Rafael said triumphantly. “Are the power of three!” He raised his hand, and the cheers were deafening.

He saw some doubtful eyes and to prove his point he turned to Sharia. “Are we not the power of three as it was foretold?” he shouted over the noise.

Sharia struggled to rise but shooed off any attempt to help her. She made her way slowly to Rafael, and placed her hands on his shoulders. The cheering died down. “Vulkasin, Mondragon, and their chosen one Falon are the power of the three! Combined with the power of the Eye of Fenrir, they are our only hope for survival.” The crowd kept silent, as her voice was weak.

“Even the power of the three cannot defeat Fenrir!” a voice shouted.

Rafael drew the Cross of Caus from the scabbard across his back, and held it up for all to see. “I possess the Cross of Caus, the sword of the original Slayer, Peter the Wolf Corbet, the only weapon capable of cutting that wretched wolf’s heart out.” He sheathed the sword and turned to Sharia, and taking her hand he motioned for one of the elders to bring a chair to him. When it was produced, he carefully set her down in it.

“Sharia, tell us the secret of the ghost walkers.”

The dome went graveyard silent. She glanced at Falon whose hand trembled in his. Her big blue eyes shone full of fear.
You have nothing to fear, my love.

She didn’t answer. He turned back to Sharia. “Tell us.”

“’Tis said that for the souls of the Lycan slain since the first rising to rise again, they must be called by one who possesses the sight.”

Rafe looked at the crowd. “Falon possesses the sight.”

A collective gasp washed through the dome.

“What else?” Rafe directed.

“’Tis also said that the one who possesses the sight must also be of the two bloods: the blood of the slayer and the blood of the slain.”

Rafe’s eyes narrowed. Not Mondragon and Vulkasin as he thought? Confused he looked at Falon, then back to Sharia. “What are you saying?”

“Slayer blood and Lycan blood, the two bloods.”

Rafe looked at Falon who had blanched white. “I don’t understand,” Rafe protested. “Falon is Lycan and human. My Vulkasin and Lucien’s Mondragon blood courses through her veins.”

“And Corbet,” Sharia whispered.

Gasps raised the roof.

“It’s true!” Lucien shouted. “Fenrir used Balor Corbet’s blood to save her life! It was the only way!”

Rafe nearly died of relief. He had forgotten that very important fact. Falon’s knees buckled, and he caught her before she fell.

“Falon,” he said worriedly. “What’s wrong?”

He watched her struggle for composure. “I— It’s been a long day.” Gently he handed her to Lucien, and turned back to Sharia.

“What must she do to raise the ghost walkers?”

Sharia was focused on Falon and he saw something akin to shock dawn in her old brown eyes. It terrified him, but he pushed forward. “Tell us!”

“On the night the Blood Moon rises she must fortify herself with the Eye of Fenrir, and with the Cross of Caus shed her own blood on the very earth that holds sacred the blood of the first dead. With the power of the ring she must call upon the gods to restore the lives.” Sharia paused and glanced at Falon then continued. “If she is pure of heart and truly of the two bloods, they will restore the lives. If she is not, there will be no rising of souls.”

“What do you mean pure of heart?” Rafael asked, confused. Her love was pure, was there something else?

Sharia looked at Falon again, and said shakily, “She can have no secrets.”

Falon fainted in Lucien’s arms. The crowd surged forward.

“Falon!” Lucien and Rafe said at the same time. Sharia rose and touched Falon’s brow. “She is fine, just overwrought. Let her have this time. She will need it.”

Confused Rafe looked to his brother for explanation. Lucien shook his head as much at a loss as Rafe. If she was not in harm’s way . . . He looked at Sharia, who held Falon’s limp hand between her old ones. “Finish what you have come to say, Rafa,” she whispered. “Then take her from here, and keep her under guard until she is better.”

Rafe nodded, and turned back to face the restless crowd. He raised his hands to quiet them. “My purpose here today is many fold. To discuss the obvious, the rising. To inform those of you who were unaware that Thomas Corbet and Fenrir are more powerful than ever, and chomping at the bit to destroy every Lycan on the planet. But also to give you hope by revealing the power of the three.” He held his right hand up to show them the ring. It flared crimson. “It contains untold power. It heeds my commands. It will lead the way. It will raise the souls, but most of all, it is at its most powerful when the power of the three are physically connected.”

He inhaled then exhaled slowly. “Earlier this morning, the council rightfully rescinded its death warrant on Lucien. Sasha Ivanov had a problem with that. He had other issues with me and my chosen one. Several hours ago he attacked Falon, she fought him off, and when my brother and I learned of it, we handled it. Sasha Ivanov is no more.”

Growls of indignant approval rippled through the dome along with many disgruntled ones. “We are all aware of the penalty for killing an alpha, but Sasha was hell-bent on killing an alpha himself. He claimed he had the blessing of the council to do it in the form of a secret assassination request made by the council.”

Roars of anger nearly brought down the dome.

“We did not endorse such a command,” Sharia defended the council.

“Maleek is gone,” Rafe said, looking at the crowd. “He is kin of Ivanov, and I suspect Maleek took the law into his own hands and approached Sasha with the lie. But I am not sure of anything until Maleek is found. And now that same council whose integrity has been compromised is calling Lucien out for killing an alpha when all he was doing was protecting his chosen one, also an alpha, against a murderer.” He let his words sink in, then finished with, “The only transgression I see here is Sasha’s and until we can prove otherwise, Maleek’s.”