The bathroom door creaks open and Amara joins us. The sated smile on her face slowly falls as reality catches up with her, anxiety slithering through a crack in her armor. “He’s still out there, isn’t he?”
Tongue in cheek, Raiden gives a terse nod. “We played right into his hand, and several men were clearly swallowing the bullshit narrative he was spewing. Evren would be a massive connection to lose, but it’s a sacrifice I’m more than happy to make if you’ve changed your mind. The security team is loyal to Kodiak, so if I speak with him first to make sure you don’t get caught in the crossfire, we could successfully pull off an impromptu siege of the building and kill those necessary without much risk to the four of us. But it would officially be declaring war, and once we got you home, you’d need to stay in the castle until it ends.”
Amara’s expression shudders. “Let’s finish out the evening as planned. Unless he tries something, it’s really no different from him stalking my every move, it’s just from where I can see him watching this time.” She takes a deep breath, drying her sweaty palms on the skirt of her dress beside the blood streaks. “I’m tired of letting him control everything I do, and sick of being afraid. I’m okay, I can do this. He can’t hurt me anymore; I won’t let him.”
Raiden cups her jaw, using his thumb to tilt her chin up, forcing her to look him in the eye. “You stay between us, or on one of our laps at all times. One of us will always be touching you. If you have to use the restroom, one of us will follow you inside. I’m not taking any chances he or anyone else can capitalize on a single momentary distraction to grab you. If you wish to leave, say you’re getting tired, and it’ll be our cue to go home without question. But if you change your mind and want us to level the building, say you’re bored, and I’ll arrange everything while Stone gets you to the car. Understood?”
She wets her lips, the corner of her mouth twitching with a small smile. “Not just one escape plan, but two? You’re spoiling me, bossman.”
He kisses her hard and fast. “Stone’s wrong, you know.” When she gives him a questioning look, he skims his fingertips down the side of her neck to trace the bite mark on her shoulder. “You’ve already earned my respect, simply by being you. But if it’s praise you want to hear?” Leaning in close, he whispers, “I’m so unbelievably proud of you for taking your power back from that monster. While we’re out there, think about what you’d like me to do to you as a reward.”
A bit of heat creeps up her cheeks, and she playfully shoves him away. “Stop trying to turn me on. It’s already going to be bad enough they’ll know what Stone and I were doing back here.”
He flashes her a mischievous smirk and wraps an arm around her waist, guiding her towards the door. “It’s not for them, it’s for me. There’s something incredibly satisfying in knowing that even filled with my brother’s cum, you’re still desperate for my touch.” Behind his back as they step away, he flips me the bird.
Following them down another set of stairs and through a shadowed hallway, the guard posted gives the two of us a wary look, but opens the door to the auction room. All of the good tables are already taken, so we’re stuck in the back right with the worst visibility of the stage; it’s perfect. We have an unhindered view of everyone’s backs, and the quickest access to the exit. Amara is a bundle of anxiety, tense and stiff next to Raiden, scanning the room for one particular face.
We spot Malcolm at the same time, off to the left halfway toward the stage. He’s already staring, clearly waiting for her to make another appearance, and by his murderous glare, knows exactly what we were doing.
No, he assumesIwas doing thingstoher. His notes have made it perfectly clear he thinks she came to us because she was desperate, and when he offered her money so she could leave, we wouldn’t let her. That she’s in over her head and in need of rescuing.
I didn’t think there was any man I could hate more than Acheron Wilder, but Malcolm dredges up instincts I’d long thought dead. For once, I actually feel like the demon stories embellish us to be, a monster that bathes in blood simply for the thrill of it, a slave to my darkest, most primal instincts.
But I know I’m more than that because a small part of me also pities him. He loves someone so much it’s driven him to madness, and he’ll die alone with his delusions.
Raiden guides Amara into the seat between us, pulling out her chair and helping her up to the small table that’s barely big enough for the three of us. Casually draping his arm over the back of her chair, Raiden looks completely confident in his place as one of the strongest shifters in the room. I interlock my fingers with Amara’s, bringing the back of her hand to my lips while I hold Malcolm’s unyielding glare. And I watch with smug satisfaction as several people in front of us turn to face the three of us, sending a mixture of annoyed and envious looks our way.
Not two seconds later, one of the waiters pauses at our table, sliding three glasses in front of us and topping them off with a bottle of champagne. “Would you care for something else on my next trip? Cognac, and a rum and coke for the gentleman, correct?” For a second he looks panicked before he snaps his fingers and shoots a victorious grin at Amara. “And water for the lady. Care to spice it up this time? I make a mean strawberry daiquiri.”
Awkwardly, she shakes her head at the enthusiastic waiter. “No thanks, the champagne’s great.” Picking up her glass, she salutes him, and when we wave him off as well, he takes off to the front row to repeat his path down the line running for refills. The second he leaves us, I down my glass in a few swallows, leaving a splash at the bottom and trading glasses with Amara. Champagne’s never been my drink of choice, but being stuck in the same room as the man that tormented my mate and not being able todoanything about it? That’s a special kind of torture that requires liquid patience.
As Evren takes the stage with Kodiak at his side, my brother meets my gaze and gestures to the phone in his hand. Pulling mine out, I set Amara’s hand on my thigh to maintain constant contact while freeing up my thumbs. I desperately try to keep up with the rapid advances of technology, but try as I might, I haven’t mastered one-handed texting without enough typos to make it unreadable.
Kodi:You brought her in here smelling like sex thinking that would calm the situation DOWN?
Me:No, I brought her in here smelling like sex with ME to piss them off and warn them away. Now rumors can spread that one of the most easy-going dragons in history is currently lost to his animalistic instincts and possessive of his mate, so it’d be suicidal for any of them to try anything against our legion.
Raiden:-eyeroll emoji- So benevolent of you.
Kodiak’s forced to put his phone away as the auction kicks off, surveying the crowd with calculated intensity, his harsh gaze lingering on Malcolm for several extra seconds. Ever since one of the guards Evren hired tried to steal one of the items he was putting up for sale, he’s exclusively used Kodi and his security firm for his events, and with damn good reason.
Kodiak built up one hell of a reputation, made a name for himself that has people begging to take them on as clients. He’s a far cry from the broken boy I found so long ago that was afraid to speak or even look himself in the mirror, and I couldn’t be more proud of the man he’s become.
“First on the docket tonight,” Evren announces, grinning at the podium. “I have a friend in the zoning commissioner’s office that owed me a favor, and thus -” he fakes a drumroll with his fingers on the wood “- I have one hundred acres of No Man’s Land up for sale.”
Everyone instantly loses interest in my legion’s drama and snaps to attention, several hands already in the air as people shout bids over one another.
Raiden leans in to whisper in Amara’s ear, “It's a swath of previously unclaimable land that six of these men’s territories border, and they’ve been after it for decades to expand.”
And fucking hell, he’s right, because it goes for seven and a half million.
“Next up, only three of you will probably be interested in, unfortunately, but it’s always fun to watch other people drain their bank accounts, am I right?” Several people chuckle as a crate is rolled out on a hand cart that he gestures to with a flourish. “Without further adieu, I’ve got five hundred single dose syringes...” Evren leaves a dramatic pause, his smirk rising into a shit-eating grin. “That can make an unmated wolf shift without a claiming bite.”
The room explodes into chaos, people surging to their feet and chairs skidding back as they shout over each other. Some in excitement, some fear, but mostly withhope.Because if it’s possible to bypass the wolves’ mate curse, there’s the potential for the other species, and with females in a sharp decline world wide, this could change everything, and not necessarily for the better.
Even if they aren’t fighting to the death over mates for the sake of shifting, we still can’t reproduce with humans. And then they have that many more weapons naturally at their disposal in their attempts to abduct one.
Evren claps his hands, calling for order and waiting until everyone finds their seats again before continuing. “Any volunteers for a demonstration on the house?”
