Ruling Fire (Bad Boys Of The Underworld Book 4) (23 page)
Read Ruling Fire (Bad Boys Of The Underworld Book 4) Online
Authors: Mallory Crowe
Brock held Elsie tighter as he looked for any sign of consciousness. She was breathing okay, and the violent shaking had finally stopped, but now she was motionless in his arms, covered in a thin sheen of sweat.
“Come on, Elsie.” He brushed some blonde strands of hair out of her face. “Wake up for me.”
Cullen laughed from where Henry and Vaughn held him securely between them. His hands, including the one at the end of his badly mangled arm, were now held behind his back in silver cuffs bespelled to prevent the change in any shifter who wore them.
After Elsie had screamed, Brock and Cullen had both found themselves paralyzed with pain on the ground, but as soon as Elsie had passed out, they were both back to normal. But so was everyone else in the Ranch. Whatever had happened with Elsie’s scream, Rachel had been knocked out too, taking her spells with her for the moment.
Before Cullen could even think about attacking, Brock’s backup had arrived. With Henry and Vaughn at his back, there really was no fight. Cullen was taken down in seconds, and Brock’s men raided the supply closets for a magic binding barrier, in this case salt from the deepest dead seas, to bind Rachel’s magic so she couldn’t cause any more damage. Now there was nothing left to do but wait for Elsie to wake up.
And she would wake up, damn it. “Where’s the doctor!” he screamed to anyone who was behind him.
“She’s on her way,” assured Henry.
“Tell her to come faster!”
Henry pulled out his phone and punched in numbers.
Brock clutched Elsie tighter to his chest. “Come on, baby,” he breathed against her forehead, willing her to open her eyes. “Please. You need to wake up. You told me you love me and I never had a chance to say it back and what kind of an ass of a mate would I be if I never said I love you. Especially because I do. So much. And I’ve been a fool to not say it sooner. There was so much happening and I could’ve lost you so many times. But I love you and you need to know that and wake up!”
Her eyes fluttered open.
“Holy shit,” breathed Brock as he saw the motion.
She winced as she glanced around the room. “So everyone’s naked now?” she asked, referring to Henry, Vaughn, and Cullen all in human form, sans clothes.
He never thought the sound of someone’s voice could affect him so much. He smiled down at her, drinking in the sight, committing it to memory so he’d never forget this kind of joy. “It might be something you need to get used to. But no leering. We don’t take kindly to leerers.”
She let out a little laugh. “No leering. Got it.” She pushed herself up and gripped Brock’s bicep tightly for balance as she looked across the room at Rachel. “I saw the queen.”
“That’s where you went? You were having another nightmare?”
Sure. What better fucking time for the queen to get in their shit again?
“I swear, Elsie, we’re going to find a way to keep her away from you. Even if I have to scour the entire fucking planet, we’ll keep you safe.”
“The queen isn’t going to hurt your siren.” Rachel sat up.
Brock and Elsie both jumped up and stared down Rachel. “Neither are you,” said Brock confidently. “Last I heard, witches don’t take kindly to salt.”
Rachel looked down dispassionately at the white circle of salt that surrounded her before she rolled her eyes and waved her hand. The small salt crystals whooshed away as though there was a strong breeze that he couldn’t feel.
“Witches
don’t
like salt,” agreed Rachel. “I’m no witch.”
“No.” Elsie moved to stand between Brock and Rachel. “Her real name is Bianca and she’s a sorceress, like Marella. She’s the one who killed your queen.”
Brock felt his fangs extend, and his vision started to alternate between human and wolf as he balanced on the edge of changing.
“Wrong again. Bianca isn’t here anymore.”
“I don’t care who the fuck you are,” said Brock. “This is my land and my pack. Your mate is under arrest. My men aren’t incapacitated any longer. If you want to try to use your juju on me again, you’re going to have a bit of...resistance.” The last word came out in an inhuman growl.
“They were my pack first,” growled the woman right back. “Bianca is dead. I’m your queen, Marella. It’s past time we talk, Brock Holt.”
“But...how?” asked Elsie.
“Bianca stole my original body. So I stole her new one.”
Elsie shuddered. “So she’s...”
“Alive. Just trapped.”
Brock eyed the woman who’d just tried to take everything from him. Rather, the body of the woman who’d tried to take everything from him. “And how are we supposed to believe you?”
She threw her head back and laughed. The sound echoed off the walls and through the Ranch. “Oh, Brock. I don’t care what you think. You’ve been alpha for a long time. I’ve been keeping what tabs I could on you. I’m impressed, really. I need time to get reacquainted to this new life.” She glanced down at herself. “To this new body. So, I’ll tell you what. I’ll let you continue your rule.”
“You’ll let me? How generous.”
“Fine then. Don’t believe me.” With a snap of her fingers, Marella was gone.
“Holy shit,” said Elsie, echoing his sentiments from earlier.
“Who... Who was that?” asked Cullen from the back of the hall, where he was being held.
“You don’t think it was Rachel?”
Cullen shook his head. Or maybe his trembling was just getting worse. At this point, it could be from the pain of his injuries or fear. Brock wasn’t sure.
Elsie set an arm on his shoulder. “Maybe we should get you some pants.”
“You don’t want to focus on the woman who just Houdini’d out of here?”
Elsie looked around the room, as though verifying that there was no trace of the woman left. “I believe her.”
Brock sighed. “I know you’re trusting, but you can’t believe everything you hear from a woman who tried to kill you just five minutes ago.”
She snorted, obviously trying to play off the seriousness of the situation. “Please. If anything, that was closer to half an hour ago.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Bianca was in my dream again. She and Marella faced off right in front of me. It wasn’t exactly fast. I promise.”
“No...” said Brock skeptically. “You were only out for a few minutes. Longest minutes of my life, but the doctor lives on an outbuilding here. She should’ve made it within five minutes of us calling her.” Elsie’s mouth dropped open in shock as she ran a hand through her hair. “Why? What happened there, Elsie?”
“The place...the queen. She wasn’t testing all the women to make sure they were qualified enough to rule the pack. She wanted to make sure no one took her place. She’d been murdered by Bianca, a sorceress like her, and no one ever knew. She was so afraid that Bianca would get power that she made sure that no alpha had a mate.” She covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh my God,” she said behind her fingers.
“Elsie, I’m trying to follow but you need to let me know what’s bothering you.”
She let out a small laugh. “Nothing. Nothing is bothering me. The queen wanted to make sure that Bianca wouldn’t take over. Now she’s trapped somewhere without a body. That means the curse is over.” She met Brock’s eyes. “I’m not going to die.”
Brock’s grin stretched across his whole face as he pulled Elsie into his arms. “You know what this means, don’t you?”
“Does this mean you’re taking me to your room and not getting dressed?” Her words were muffled against his neck as she savored every inch of his body she could touch. The smell of him, the sight of him, the feel of his hug: every little bit was heaven.
“No. This means we need to have an official wedding.”
EPILOGUE
“Quick, I need you to undo it.”
Brock chuckled from behind Elsie. “I didn’t know you were so eager to get naked for me.”
“I love you, I really do, but right now I need to breathe.”
“It’s the wolf in you,” whispered Brock against her earlobe as he finally gave in to her wishes and loosened the strings at the back of the elaborate corset.
“I know, I know. Loose clothes are all-important now. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to wear a loose-fitting dress at my own wedding.”
“Well, you are stubborn.”
Brock pulled on another string and all of a sudden, Elsie could breathe again. “Oh...that’s nice.”
“Happy to be of service.” Brock’s hands moved up to massage her shoulders.
She moaned as his gentle but firm fingers worked the tension out of her shoulders. “It was such a nice day. I shouldn’t be this stressed.”
“Stress is over. Now is relaxing time.” He continued undoing her dress, letting her know exactly what kind of relaxing he was talking about.
“Did you see Marella at the ceremony?”
Brock froze. “What?”
“I saw her in the back. Right out of the corner of my eye. She smiled, so I think she was just there to wish us well.”
“As long as you don’t think she’s here to challenge me. I can take on Cullen, but I’m not so sure about a sorceress wolf.”
“She’s been alone for a long time. Especially if time goes longer there than here. That has to take a toll on someone. Maybe she’s not doing us any favors. Maybe she’s staying away for her own protection.”
“She’s taken enough away from me and my family that she can stay as far away from my family as possible.” Brock wrapped his arms around Elsie and set his palms over her stomach. “All of my family.”
“Pshh... You don’t know I’m pregnant.” Two days ago, he said something smelled off about her, and by the time Elsie got over being offended by the strange sentiment, he’d realized that she was expecting. It was too soon for the over-the-counter testers to tell her anything, but she wouldn’t be surprised if that nose of his was right.
“It’s okay,” he assured. “Eight and a half months after the wedding is still plenty of time to maintain your dignity.”
She snorted with laughter. “Please. I think we’re going to have a reputation for the most rambunctious pack leaders ever.”
“As long as our son is perfectly well behaved.”
Elsie laughed even harder. “Please. With your genes, our daughter will be a little hellion. You’ll need all of Henry’s men to keep her contained.”
“Good Lord. If it’s a girl, Henry and Vaughn wouldn’t stand a chance. You already have them wrapped around your finger and they didn’t even like you at first.”
“They liked me!” protested Elsie. “They didn’t like sirens that much, but they came around to me fast enough.”
“I came around to you fast enough.” He twisted her in his arms to face him and set his hands on her waist.
“After a few years,” she pointed out as he backed up into the bed and sat down.
He lifted her skirts so she could straddle him in her wedding gown. “I was a fool.”
She opened her mouth to agree, but her breath caught when his lips found the perfect spot on her neck. A little “Oh...” was the only sound that escaped as he nibbled his way down her collarbone, pushing her dress aside as he went.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I have forever to make up for lost time.”
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Check out Book 5 in the Bad Boys Of The Underworld Series; STEALING FIRE!
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