Fated for the Alphas: The Complete Collection (Nine Book Paranormal Romance Box Set) (49 page)

The world went dark.

Lia faltered. She shifted, unsure of her paws. “Kane? Ronan?”

“We’re still here,” Ronan said.

There was a thud of someone falling, a scream.

Kane snickered. “I don’t need my sight to take down a witch. Not when they smell so pungent.”

Lia heard Magda rolling in last year’s leaf litter and cursing.

“I guess she didn’t like the taste of her own powder,” Kane said. “But she had so much of it in her pockets. I don’t know what else she expected me to do with it.”

“We need to move on,” Ronan said. “Lia, can you follow my voice?”

“Yes.” She was in the dark. Kane and Ronan were here, but she was in the dark again.

“It’s going to be all right,” Ronan said. “Kane, can you reach Lia?”

“I can’t tell where she is. Hells, I can barely smell anything.”

Lia bit back a sob. This wasn’t the time to panic. She just had to put one foot in front of the other, and hope she didn’t impale herself on a low branch.

“Do you know what that was?” Ronan asked. “The powder?”

Lia shook her head. Idiot. He couldn’t see her. “I don’t. But Magda loves keeping secrets, especially from me.”

“Don’t worry. All we have to do—” Ronan’s voice went quiet, like he was suddenly very far away.

“Ronan?”

“The Vantage, Lia.” It was like he was speaking from a far-off mountain. “Meet at the—”

She was alone. Alone in the dark. All alone, the blackness crushing in…

Lia put her hands up to her head, but she didn’t feel her palms against her skin. Or the ground beneath her feet. It was like she’d been severed from the earth.

There was no more birdsong. No more drone of insects.

Alone in the dark, alone in the dark.

She would slap herself if she could. She shouldn’t be afraid of Shade. She wasn’t in his cavern. There was darkness, but no dripping. Shade wasn’t here. No one was here, not even her. She opened her mouth, and couldn’t even taste the sweet summer air.

Was Kane right beside her? Was Ronan? Was Magda? She didn’t feel safe. Though there was no light, air, or earth, all she could do was run.

Chapter Four

Midnight.

The Vantage. Get to the Vantage.

“Don’t be late,” Lilah whispered.

What is the Vantage?

An odd question. She knew what the Vantage was. She saw the curtain of vines clearly. They led to the most spectacular view the valley had to offer.

A peak, then? Which one?

She shook herself. The voice in her head sounded like Hecuba. She wasn’t going to tell that old bat anything.

Very well. We’ll find it ourselves.

Lia sat with a jolt. It was dark, but the light of the full moon lit the forest. She almost cried with relief. The blackness was gone.

She was crouched beside a fallen log. Her hands and feet ached, and her hair was full of leaves. How long had she been running?

She looked up at the moon. Was it midnight yet? The moon was high in the sky. She frowned. Was it past midnight? Her heart was beating hard, but not from exertion. She needed her Alphas. She craved their heat, their touch.

Delirium was taking over, dragging her out of the black powder’s clutches. Lia shifted, her eyes glowing gold. She only had one desire now. She needed to get to the Vantage, and to her Alphas. Only they could sate her.

She ran through the woods until she came to the log that lay over the river. Her paws were no longer tired, but light, and ready to carry her for as many miles as it took. Following the familiar path, she made her way up the mountain.

Lia got as far as the field of boulders before they found her.

“Here!”

She whirled as Lizabeth shot a pillar of flame into the sky.

The witch leaned forward on her bough, which was covered in scars and bleeding sap. “It is you, Lia, isn’t it? You wolves all look the same to me.”

Lia snarled, but she took satisfaction in Lizabeth’s ruined bough. She must have reclaimed it from the earth, but apparently it had taken many cuts of her knife to do so. Lia hoped the pine had made her fight for it. Maybe Lia could persuade it to rebel one more time…

“It’s not personal,” Lizabeth said. “But I can’t let you destroy the coven. You and your monstrous—” She was cut off as her bough began listing under the weight of the many pinecones it was developing.

“Not again!”

Lia couldn’t wait around to watch the show. She turned and leapt over the first boulder.

“No Name!” Magda flew into sight, followed by most of the coven. Lia flinched. She remembered the vision in the mist, how she made the witches fall. Now they wanted to keep her from getting to the Vantage.

Twin howls rose from the peak above. Lia responded, raising her head as her call twined with theirs. They were waiting for her. She would come.

“Enough!” Magda’s voice cut her off. “You’re too late, No Name! Midnight has passed.”

That couldn’t be right. What about the mist?

“I’ve thwarted you. You’re no match for me. But your chance to join the coven has passed. There is no choice now, only death.”

Lia ran flat out up the boulders. Magda called after her in that mocking, singsong tone.

“Farewell, No Name!”

The witches’ boughs cut through the air. She couldn’t outrun them. They were gaining.

She heard lightning crackle on Magda’s fingers. Lia stumbled just as a bolt hit the rock where she should have been. Magda hissed in anger. Lizabeth threw out a spout of flame that formed a hand and reached for her with fiery fingers. Twisting clear of it, Lia clawed her way over another stone.

Faster. Faster. But not fast enough. They were closing in. Magda was overhead now, reaching down to grab her. Lia was so scared that she shifted onto two useless legs. Magda cackled in triumph. It was over, it was all over—

NO.

White light blasted out. The witches shrieked.

Lia blinked, her eyes adjusting. A bubble of light hung over the mountain peak. The witches were on the other side. Lizabeth rammed her bough into it, but the light threw her back. Magda tossed lightning at it, but the bubble just seemed to absorb it. Lia looked at it in wonder.

Outside, the witches cursed her, but Lia barely heard them.

She walked up to the curtain of vines, parting them with one hand.

The moon bathed the valley in an unearthly glow. It seemed to be inside the bubble and outside of it all at once. From here, it looked like it was at its highest point. Midnight.

Lia walked onto the overlook. There were Kane and Ronan, their eyes gleaming gold. They had been waiting for her. Craving her. She could smell their desire, their need.

She knew they could smell hers as well. She loved it.

They were alone, the bubble of light protecting them. They had all the time in the world. Everything she wanted was right here.

“Come here,” Ronan said, his voice low and gravelly.

She smiled and reached out to him. He took her hand. She sought Kane, and he grabbed her other arm. Their cocks throbbed, Delirium making them even larger than usual. Lia let out a breath, hardly able to wait.

“Stop that,” Kane growled. “I can’t stand it.” He bit her neck lightly, his fingers trailing possessively through her hair.

Lia curved her neck toward him. “Do you want to Bite me again?”

“Don’t tempt me.” He grazed his teeth over the place where he’d claimed her, making her shiver with delight. Kane embraced her from behind, his arms crossing her breasts and his cock pressing against her back. “I need to make sure you remember who your Alpha is.”

Ronan knelt before her, spreading her legs. Lia let out a whimper, the anticipation overwhelming her. Kane slid around so he was at her side, his cock rubbing her hip. He turned her head to make her look at him.

“Your Alphas are Delirious, my love. And we’re going to give you a night you’ll never forget.”

He kissed her roughly just as Ronan set his warm tongue to her skin. Lia gasped into Kane’s lips, the sensations almost sending her over the edge. She laid a hand on Ronan’s head, her fingers twisting and spasming in his hair as his tongue flicked against her folds.

Ronan held her legs steady, but somehow she was spinning. Kane was there, always there, his lips searing hers. He kissed her like he had been missing her for years, like he had been parched in the desert and she was his water. He thirsted for her. If this was what Delirium kisses were like, she was going to need more of them.

Kane wouldn’t let her go, and she didn’t want him to. His lips told her how much he loved her, how much he needed her. And she couldn’t deny him. She could have kissed him forever if she didn’t need to come up for air. His lips were paradise.

Her spine straightened of its own accord as Ronan’s tongue sent a jolt through her. Kane pulled her head back toward him, demanding her. She ran her tongue over his, gently biting his lips. Kane growled, pressing himself to her and leaving her lightheaded. She breathed a little sigh of pleasure.

Ronan rolled his tongue over her, circling until her knees almost buckled. He moaned into her, and her knees finally gave way. She tumbled to the ground. Ronan rolled, catching her on top of him. Her legs twitched.

“That felt so good,” she managed to say.

He grinned. “I barely had to do any work. You were already so wet for us, weren’t you?”

Lia laid a hand on his chest. “But I can’t help it.” She arched her back, bringing her wetness down to meet his cock.

Ronan’s eyes rolled back in his head. “If you do that again, I won’t be able to control myself.”

Lia promptly did it again. “So don’t.”

Growling, he turned his golden eyes to her and grabbed her by the hips. His hair was sweaty and tousled. A lock of it had fallen across his face. She wanted to reach out and brush it aside, but before she could, he had lifted her onto his cock.

And then there was nothing else she could think about. He stretched her, filled her as she slid onto him. She threw her head back, closed her eyes. A moan escaped her, so loud that she didn’t know if the bubble of light could contain it. Her thighs were quivering, her hands trembling, and he hadn’t even started thrusting yet.

Ronan lay back, locking his hands behind his head. Lia planted her hands on either side of his ribcage. She looked at him, the small smile on his face, wondering what he was thinking. Did he feel he had already done enough work with his tongue? She pushed her hips against him, earning a soft groan. He had gotten her slick for him. If he wanted to relax, she was willing to oblige.

Before she could move, Kane bent down to grab her hips and started to pull her off Ronan. Lia let out a sound of protest. She wasn’t done with him yet. But Kane wasn’t pulling her off. Just up, until Ronan’s tip was barely inside her. Then he set her down again, letting her weight draw her back down Ronan’s cock.

Kane drew her up once more, his movements tantalizingly slow. Both Ronan and Lia moaned, begging him to let her slide down again. He obliged, this time slowing Lia’s descent. He repeated the motion, his fingers digging into Lia’s flesh, his breath hot on the back of her neck. Kane urged her up and down, over and over, until Lia came. And came. And came again, until all three of them were out of breath and panting.

Lia made herself tighten around Ronan’s cock. He groaned, with an urgency that said he wasn’t going to last much longer. Kane could tell, too. He worked harder now, pulling Lia up to the tip of Ronan’s cock ever faster, letting her fall again and again. Lia couldn’t move herself if she wanted to, as her legs were numb with pleasure.

Now she exhaled sharply, every fall forcing a cry from her lips. It was too much for Ronan. He burst deep inside her, the warmth and the wetness making her thoughts blur. He came again and again, until she had emptied him.

He panted, spent, but there was no rest for Lia. Kane crouched behind her as Ronan rolled aside. He tugged on her hips, pulling her onto all fours. Then he thrust his huge cock inside her.

She was ready for him. More than ready. She craved him, like she craved air or water. He was her Alpha, just like Ronan. She wanted both of them to claim her tonight.

Kane was so large he left her little room to breathe. Lia pressed back against him anyway, wanting all of him. Pulling her hair, he forced her head back. She was vulnerable like that, her neck exposed, but she never felt vulnerable with her Alphas. They were her knights, her defenders. She trusted them with her life, and her love.

Kane slid into her again, raking his claws down her back. He didn’t seem able to help himself. It didn’t hurt, though. It almost made her come, to think of him marking her as his own.

He must be enjoying her total submission. With a growl of pleasure, Kane thrust into her.

Lia couldn’t help it. This time she came hard, moaning as ecstasy rippled through her every muscle. She needed a moment to steady herself, but Kane wouldn’t let her have it. He kept thrusting, light and fast now, spurring Lia higher and higher. She was higher than the Vantage, the clouds, the very sky itself. He made love to her until the pleasure became too much, and she came back to earth like a falling star.

Only once she was sated did he take his pleasure. Kane’s hips slapped against her ass as he spent himself inside her, moaning her name all the while.

Then he collapsed, pulling Lia down with him. She snuggled next to him, making room for Ronan beside her. Lia could barely keep her eyes open. She wanted to thank them somehow, but she couldn’t find the words, or the will to move her lips. She’d just have to repay them on the next full moon.

On either side of Lia, her Alphas moved closer to her. Even on this high peak, her Alphas kept her warm easily. She sighed, contented. They weren’t in the den, but Lia was home all the same.

***

By morning, the bubble of light had vanished, and so had the witches. Lia, Kane, and Ronan carefully made their way back to the den, making sure one of them was always looking at the sky.

A wolf howled as they stepped into the meadow, and Kane answered. Five wolves were on the heights. It seemed like almost everyone else was outside, crafting arrows or sharpening spears.