Captiva Capitulation (2 page)

On the receiving end of a third bite, Rock felt his werewolf’s restlessness die down, relaxing. With clean swiftness, he snapped two throats, their bodies sliding to the ground with death’s finality. In contrast, Rock had never felt more alive. Wiping the blood from his mouth, he jumped high, landing on an outsized hardwood branch.

“When you find your female,” Sixten grated, as Rock continued to search for any other threats against his new found mate. “You’ll understand completely different territorial urges than those of Pack. You'll understand why I should kill you for risking my wife the way you just did.”

“He shouldn’t have any territorial urges on Captiva,” Kash interjected, turning to Bane. “This is Vojak turf.”

Bane stretched his neck. “Rock wasn’t
exactly
encroaching, Vojak.”

Sixten threw out his hands, feeling instead of smelling, for more shifters. “All clear,” he murmured, satisfied.

“What’s all clear?” At her voice, Rock’s cock hardened unbelievably. “Oh, oh, Habalines?”

“Yes, dear,” Sixten groaned.

“P-p…parts of Habalines everywhere! In m-my yard!”

“Blythe,” Sixten murmured soothingly, lifting her into his arms. “As usual, you have impeccable timing.” She’d put on her vampire’s shirt, and Rock groaned at the sight of Blythe’s bare ass as Sixten settled her body against his chest. After a delicate kiss placed on her forehead, he walked her towards the door. “You’re trembling. Let’s go inside, shall we? Dru left you human sedatives just for this purpose, moja láska. Maybe, they’ll help you rest.”

Far above, on the bend of the thick Live Oak, Rock growled ominously, watching Blythe. Her head snapped up and met his stare. By her expression, Rock understood what he must look like: A primal Beast devoid of any humanity.

Devoid was just the opposite of what he now was.

Blythe filled every dark place inside of him.

Sixten’s eyes shifted high, taking in Rock’s eight-foot monster. “I said I didn’t sense anymore.” He reached for the door and Rock’s next growl ripped through his body. Before Sixten could usher Blythe inside, he landed with a heavy thud behind them. In this form, he weighed more than three-hundred pounds.

“Mine.”

Every muscle in Sixten’s body went on lockdown, so much so that he nearly dropped his wife. Slowly facing Rock, he whispered hoarsely, “What did you just say?”

In a sudden move, Kash pulled Blythe from his arms, caging her behind him and Sixten.

“My mate.” He pointed straight between the Vojaks at Blythe.

“Mate?” Blythe wiggled behind them, but they held her back against the house.

Bane cleared his throat, his voice full of concern when he said, “I would move, vampires.” And although he was Beta, he moved several feet away himself, knowing better than to come between Rock and his celestially appointed mate. Bane’s voice dropped to an irritated whisper, “Seriously. Rock’s mother’s line is
Alpha
.”

“See, this is God’s cosmic joke,” Sixten said, tossing his hair from his eyes. “Before you Beasts arrived, I was just sitting on the railing, minding my own business while talking to Kash. In the back of my head, I figured Blythe would be better off as a werewolf’s mate instead of an Undead, and BOOM.” A maniacal laugh left him. “Careful what you wish for. And, Kash, by the looks of Rock, I’d go with the Beta’s advice and move.” Stupid or Brave, Kash remained.

“Six, please,” Blythe whispered, pressing petite hands on his back. “I think I have a fever.”

“You’re in heat, Blythe,” Bane explained quietly.

“What heat?” she asked.

Rock stepped forward, the deck creaking under his massive weight. “My female, come to me.” Licking one of his canines, he inhaled sharply, staring intently on a horrified Blythe.

“
His female
?” Pushing her head between Kash and Sixten, she glared accusingly at Bane. The pieces slowly clicking in place, and her mouth dropped open. “You told me I didn’t have to do rights to mate unless I wanted it, and I didn’t!”

“Blythe,” Bane said evenly, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. Obviously, he was accustomed to soothing angry, frightened women. Rock, not so much, he’d had a hard time dealing with the Alpha’s queen. “This certainly isn’t rights to mate, sweetheart. Listen, Rock met me here and scented your arousal – pure and simple. Before he starts tearing
more
things apart,” he continued, gesturing to the bloody body parts scattered across the sand, “I suggest you calm down. Your adrenalin is keeping him jacked. Hell, the Beta Beast is slamming me in the forehead over your distress. And if I light up again next to Rock when he just scented what is his, he’s going to attack me – Beta or not. Then, my Beast will have no other choice but to kill him. It’s the hierarchy, the intrinsic order of things. I don’t want that, Blythe, do you?”

“Of course not!”

Rock would never back down. Never. Nothing anyone could say or do would deter him, especially Blythe and her outrage. She was his. Rock had the means to provide for anything she wanted, and he would spoil her rightly. He would feed her, bathe her, and service her body until she was sated nightly. All of those things and more were his honor. “You will learn my touch, Blythe.”

“Your touch?”

“Take deep breaths, Blythe,” said Sixten softly, keeping his eyes locked on Rock. “In and out.”

“I wanted one night without blood and guts and drama,” she complained, her trembling hand palming her forehead. “I’ll go inside.”

“No!” Bane, Sixten, and Kash said in unison.

Rock’s body lit up. To his werewolf’s pleasure, Blythe dropped, spun out, and then made a mad dash for the back sliders, totally avoiding the side door they all thought she headed for.

“Stop running!” Bane issued a stern warning. “Oh, fuck,” he added when Rock took off after her, “she just...” Bane glared at Sixten. “Have you explained
anything
about werewolves to her?”

“Been a little busy, Beta. I know he won’t ever hurt her, right?” Sixten jumped on Kash, holding him down on the deck. “You’re the one who’s supposed to be holding me down, buddy.”

Bane gave Kash a thorough once over before answering Sixten’s question. “No. But his Beast may play, especially if she keeps this up.”

“She won’t go far. Blythe
always
hangs her toe on the leg of that chaise,” Sixten said with a shake of his head, and in the next second, she did. Rock scooped her up with one hand, righting her to stand. This time, she backed away from him slowly until her calves met the next chaise. Kash hissed a clear challenge Rock’s way. “Kash, don’t,” Sixten pleaded. “We’re relying on unreliable Druid tattoos to save her. They're all she has going for her…unless she mates him.” He took in three steadying breaths. “If you want her to
live
, then
don’t
. If I can temper my possessiveness so she can move from the unreliable to the reliable, why can’t you?”

“Fine,” Kash hissed.

“Blythe,” Sixten called her, jumping off Kash’s back and moving closer. “He’s still Rock, remember? He helped save you the other night. He’s just different this way, and you’ve witnessed it firsthand. Yes, he’s a werewolf, but he’s never hurt you, angel.”

“Nor will he,” Bane said quietly, backing away towards the marsh.

Blythe pushed away Rock’s hand, her face pale and furious. Her pulse notably throbbed at the base of her throat. Despite the strange, uncomfortable moment, Rock grew thirsty for her blood and he heard Kash swallow loudly.

“Don’t move away from me again,” Rock cautioned, somehow simmering to mid-trans, a transformation that remained between his werewolf and his human façade. “I don’t think I can control myself if you do.”

“C-control yourself?” In the next second, Blythe transformed
herself
into a living statue. Faint pallor and all, she still managed to be defiant, “I don’t believe you’ll hurt me, but I need room to breathe.”

Rock understood her confusion. Smelled her fear. Earlier, when she walked out on the deck, Blythe assumed the Habalines were coming for her again. They probably were. Then she faced something she hadn’t counted on: her werewolf mate. What a way for him to claim her. She walked out to find him covered in blood while perched in a tree, of all things.

What’s more? They’d known one another since she was a teenager, and Rock had tried to turn her away from Sixten on numerous occasions, most of them recently. Not that she should blame him for that. But Rock knew she wouldn’t forget his protests regarding her vampire anytime soon.

“Room to breathe, it is. But you won’t do it from out here.” He gestured at the bloody carnage. “Sixten wants you inside the house, resting. I’m in complete agreement with him.”

“Resting?” Her eyes were glassy, looking everywhere but at him.

Still in mid-trans, Rock released another growl - he couldn’t help it - pulling Blythe against him. Her tiny fists came against his chest, a natural fighter, but she didn’t push him away.
He
wanted to fight all her battles, take the fear from those extraordinary eyes. Soothe her with his body until she drifted into a peaceful sleep. Lowering his head, he sniffed her hair, brushing his lips across the top of her head. She stood so small in contrast to his monstrous frame, her fingernails digging into his forearms.

There wasn’t any way for Blythe to fight their connection, their draw to one another. They were unequivocally tethered. And if he could have ordered a perfect mate for himself, he still wouldn’t have come up with anything close to the perfection now in his arms. He wanted to drop to his knees and thank God for a generous gift he wasn’t sure he deserved.

“You belong to me,” he whispered, his breath blowing her midnight hair back. “We will talk things through, work things through, not
run
from them. I may… not look like the werewolf of human folklore. I don’t walk on all fours or grow fur. However, there’s one human legend regarding werewolves that's true. Never run. You won’t like what happens when I catch you.” Stupidly defiant, she then tried to twist out of his hold. “And I
will
catch you.” Rock nipped her chin with his canines, not breaking skin. A clear warning from his Beast to his female in an effort to slow her down, calm her. Which only seemed to piss off Blythe, but he was unable to hold back the inherent action.

“I won’t run again, because I don’t want to be caught!”

Rock was calling bullshit on that one. “After your subjugation under Marchii Gianni, you fear what I bring?” he asked, shaking his head. “Blythe, you recognize me as your mate. I
know
that you do.” When she said nothing, he demanded, “Answer me.”

“Tonight, I do.” Short breaths left her throat, her chest heaving. “After all these years, Rock,
you
just figured this out? That I belong to your werewolf?”

“We’ll discuss that in private.” Without leaning away, Rock gave her a searching stare, up close and personal. He salivated, wanting to run his tongue over every inch of her flesh. “I’ll make a promise to you, one to a mate that I cannot break: By a long shot, you will be happier with me, than you were without me.” He cupped her chin, wanting to press his lips to hers. “I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life, and I’ve lived for centuries.” Along with that private discussion, he wanted their first kiss to be private, as well. Instead, he trailed her jaw with his nose, before sniffing against her throat. Right then, he found the perfect place to mark her.

“You shouldn’t make promises to me.”

“I can and I will. You are my female, born for me.” Her heart rate doubled, adrenalin spiking. Adrenalin always called predators and he couldn’t risk her in any way. When she opened her mouth again, Rock cut her off with a simple command, “Your heart rate will slow. You will calm yourself.” To his surprise, Blythe went completely limp. Scooping her up, Rock cradled her soft body, a woman’s body, against his hard chest. He shook his head, concerned over her palpable exhaustion. “Yeah, bed’s a good call for you.”

With his Beast’s magic aiding her body, only then was Rock composed enough to lower down into his human façade, understanding that she couldn’t take off again or call predators with her adrenalin.

After a wide mouthed yawn, she said, “Where’s my Sixten?”

“He shifted into a hawk and he’s watching you like one.”

“What?” Another yawn. “I want to see,” her voice dropped to a whisper, her eyes clouding over.

“I’m right here, moja láska. He’s kidding, you know. Small birds aren’t my thing.” Sixten put his head between them, taking her lips in a gentle kiss. The one Rock wanted to give her, but if he tasted her mouth right now, he’d probably end up bending her over, pinning her and then pounding into his mate in the way of males. Even so, he enjoyed watching her lips move with Sixten’s kiss. When he didn’t think he could grow harder, he did. Popping out of his zipper was a given. She tried to get down, but Rock held her under a specific compulsion made solely for her.

“I don’t know what’s going through your mind, Rock,” she complained sleepily. “But this is my home with Sixten. Really, the only true one I’ve known since my parents' deaths. I’m
home
…I want to stay home.”

“You want to stay here, so be it.” Rock looked pointedly at Sixten. “She considers this as her home yet she cannot live here without attracting shifters.”

“Pardon me, but lately, my wife cannot go underground without losing it,” Sixten grated, though his words remained
soft
. Rock understood he wasn’t used to explaining his care in regards to his wife, but Sixten was taking this better than his Beast would have. “Don’t you think I’ve tried to nestle her underground? I’d do anything for her, anything to keep her safe. Alive.” Sixten’s hands were fisted at his sides, his breaths leaving in escalating bursts. “I even had this house warded by a Shaman, a deal with the Devil made just for Blythe.”

“I see the spells,” Rock retorted, smelling Blythe’s hair again while carrying her back to the open side door. “I can pick every spell apart, one by one, chewing them up and spitting them at your feet. So far, none of them is good enough.”

At that, Sixten appeared impressed. “So you’re one of the few wolves who can unravel intricate Druid spells.”