Dark War Chronicles Box Set One (27 page)

"I think you're just too scared to face what fate has given you again. You lost Trisha, yes, but you've grown stronger since and you also have Lucius to back you. If you ask me, I think it's a sign and you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth."

Coran raised a brow. "You're nuts. I don't want anything to do with fate and any attraction I have to her is purely physical and that’s it."

"Oh really?" A wicked grin crossed Orion's face and he bounded into the living room, blocking the women’s view of the TV.

Coran leaned against the wall, crossing his arms when they started to complain about not seeing the hot guys.

"I think you’d much rather have a live show." Orion winked and started to wiggle his body to the beat of the music coming from the television.

"You've got to be kidding me." Coran pushed off the wall and growled, his voice barely human, his beast waking and wanting to claim Renee. "Don't you do it, you bastard."

Orion slid his shirt off in a slow movement, matching his hips to the beat, revealing a sculpted and tanned chest. The wolf in Coran snarled and the need to claim his mate took over. Before his human self realized it, Coran had catapulted over the table between the two recliners straight at Orion, knocking the television off the wall mount. The crashing sound of it hitting the floor echoed through the room and Coran started wrestling with the Fae. The boys tumbled into the dining room, knocking over a couple of chairs.

Renee and Tegan started laughing at the two when Orion pushed Coran off him. "Outside, now. fuck dude, you broke the TV, it was a joke." He dusted himself off as he stood.

Coran glanced at Renee, glad to see her laughing, because he was embarrassed. He wondered how his wolf could take over in such a way, even after centuries of practice. He rubbed his eyes and walked out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

Renee calmed her laughing the moment she spotted the destroyed television. "Really, was that necessary?"

"You have no idea." Orion sighed. "I'll go talk to him. Tegan, you got the mess?"

"Why do I always have to clean up the messes?" She grumbled, but gave Orion a thumbs up as he walked out.

"I'll help you with it. So much for Dancing with the Stars." Reneelooked at the front door, wondering what had gotten into Coran to make him attack Orion.

"So true." Tegan shrugged. "Shit happens. I told you, mood swings." She shook her head and went to examine the cracked screen.

Renee followed her. "Want help moving it?"

"Please." Tegan grabbed one side while Renee went to the other.

"So, what do you think that was all about?" Renee asked while Tegan led them to the door separating the house from the garage.

Tegan was silent for a moment before her lips curled into a knowing smile. "I think someone was jealous."

"Jealous? Jealous of what? Orion stripping in front of us?"

"You."

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

"What about me?"

Tegan shook her head as she set the television down, leaning it against the wall. "Coran was upset because Orion was stripping in front of you. It had nothing to do with me." She laughed.

Realization dawned on Renee and her eyes widened. "You're kidding me, why on earth would Coran be that upset about it?" Her mind turned back to the conversation with Orion the night before. “
He protects what is his
.” She walked past the covered car and back towards the door.

"I think he's attracted to you."

"Really? Well that's kind of cool, cause um," Renee picked at a loose string on her jeans, not meeting Tegan's eyes.  "I can't explain it, but I'm really drawn to him. Don't get me wrong, he's hot, but it's more than that." Though drawn to him was an understatement. A mere glance at him made her insides clench and his touch made her tension and stress melt away. He gave her a sense of peace and safety, of being complete and she wanted more of that. Every time he pushed her away, she felt a small piece of her heart shatter.

Tegan paused, her back to Renee. "More how?"

"Even though I don't know him, I feel like there's just something about him calling out to me. I trust him, despite everything that's happened to me I trust him." Renee didn't feel like she could mention the wolf she saw behind Coran, nor could she manage to explain her emotions in a coherent sentence.

Tegan's head bowed before she continued back into the house. "Do you believe in fate?"

"Fate? Like all-things-are-destined kind of fate?"

Tegan nodded.

Thinking for a moment, Renee tried to put it into a context that she believed and understood. "I guess so, I mean I truly believe that God has a reason for everything and certain people are put in your life for a reason." She closed the door behind them. "Why?"

"Fate chooses destines for people and it’s possible that Coran is who was chosen for you." She turned to face Renee, her lips pressed in a line. "It's not something that I can really explain to you, not without sharing some of Coran's history with you."

"Why won't you? If you think we're...fated to be together why can't you tell me?"

"It's not my story to tell. We all have...tortured pasts and it's not right for me to tell you his. It's just not." She ran a hand through her long white hair. "So you and he are going to have to work things out, because between people chasing you and his mood swings about you, it makes things hard on us all."

Renee sighed. "Wow, I'm sorry, I know you're all close and I didn't know that I was causing problems for everyone." Hurt tinged her voice.

"That's not what I'm saying, it would just be easier if you two could get your hormones settled." Tegan rubbed her eyes under her glasses. "I'm sorry, just things have been rough lately, even before you came into the picture."

"Right." Renee said before grabbing a book out of her bag and sitting down to read, ignoring the other woman. Renee had thought the two of them would be able to get along, now she felt like Tegan just saw her as an annoyance.

Coran paced the plot of land they called the lawn. Orion shook his head and leaned against the townhouse. "Really man? You don't care about her? You just slammed me into a TV for taking off my shirt."

"It's complicated." Coran stopped and stared at his friend. "You wouldn't understand, the love of your life is still alive and won't die either. Renee is human."

"And if fate has chosen her for you? That’s some serious shit." Orion cocked a brow. "You really want to deny fate?"

Coran growled, feeling his wolf rise up. "And if I fail to protect her? I don't want another human dying in my arms because of my mistake."

"What makes you think that Renee will die like Trisha?" Orion shook his head. "There is nothing saying that she will."

Coran closed his eyes as the memories of holding Trisha in the court of the Circle came rushing over him. He could still feel her blood dripping over his arms while he cradled her body to him. The ragged attempt of her last breath, when she cried for him, but what he remembered most was the bloodsucker who killed her. The raging red eyes that locked on to Coran's the moment Trisha's soul left her body.

"I can't go through that again. I won't. Besides I'm immortal, she'll grow old."

"Then you watch over her and enjoy the time you have together. Times are different now and the Circle doesn't dare come here. Hell, the Circle has hardly shown their faces for a couple hundred years, ever since the Original's went into hibernation."

Coran sighed, remembering his time with the Circle. The rules and expectations for those who lived in their territory still gave him nightmares. Had it not been for Lucius, Coran would probably still be there. "Really? You want me to march in there and tell her what I am and hope she doesn’t run screaming? Next you want me to tell her that I will watch her grow old? I’ll hold her dying frail body while I stay the same as I am now?”

"Not exactly what I said, but it's a good start. You can't fight fate, things get screwed up if you do." Orion shrugged. "So she's a human—"

"She's an innocent human that has no real idea about the supernatural." Except for the fact that she could see Orion's wings and Coran's beast, but he didn't want to get into that debate. If it got back to Lucius he would send Kassity to kill Renee, and Coran wouldn’t allow that. "You know that most of the time they get killed, bound, or worse, enslaved."

Orion shrugged. "Maybe we could find a vampire to tie her to, that would solve the immortal problem, and then Tegan would actually have a human female friend."

"Bad idea." A snarl left Coran's lips. "You would really want to condemn someone to that? Tegan is a different situation than a regular human. A Blood Human."

Orion sneered at the term. "Regardless of Tegan's origins she's still mostly human and I'm willing to bet that she'd help Renee through anything."

Coran shook his head. "It doesn't matter, once Renee hands over the stone and it goes back to Lucius, things are over. Renee goes back to her life of schoolbooks and tests while we continue to fight this war."

"Simple as that? You aren't even willing to try for a chance at happiness?"

"My happiness was stolen from me a long time ago by the same type of creature we work for. Renee doesn't belong in our world." And yet, Coran didn't believe it. He wanted to run inside and hold Renee close like he had the night before. A strange ache started in his chest and he refused to give in to the urge to rub it.

"I can see it in your eyes. Go back to her Coran, it's only a matter of time before she finds out about our world and then you have no excuse." Orion put a hand on Coran's shoulder. "At least you have a chance with her, and trust me, she likes you. So don't throw the chance away and don't let her get away from you. Or you'll always be wondering what fate was trying to hand you. What does your beast think?"

Coran laughed and closed his eyes so he could feel his wolf. "He likes her and she does manage to calm him." He shook his head. "I don't know how to explain what I am to her." Even if she already suspected what he was, he couldn't come up with an easy way to say 'I'm a werewolf.'

"Well, I don't suggest you wait until the full moon. In fact, the moment she finds out that the paranormal world is real, I say you dump it on her then. It's only fair." Orion grinned. "You also owe me a new television."

Coran snorted. "Yeah, yeah, come on, I'll buy you a beer. I'm not willing to face either of them right now."

"You think Tegan can handle things if something happens?" Orion asked, his eyes sliding to the door.

"Man, when are you going to stop worrying about her? She's trained to fight and she's got a temper to match any Irish woman in my clan." Coran shook his head. "She'll be fine."

Orion sighed. "I know, I just, I can't help but still see her...as she was."

Images of what Tegan was like during their time at the Circle and after her torture filled his mind. A broken and scared woman. "Which is probably why Lucius doesn't let you date her. Now, stop moping and come have a beer." Coran went to the side of the house and jumped over the gate, using one arm as leverage to lift his body over. Orion rolled his eyes and flashed himself to the other side.

"Show-off." Coran paused for a moment, thinking he heard footsteps near the townhome. At this time of day it could have been anyone. He pushed his paranoia aside as he followed Orion down the street.

Chapter Seven

Renee tapped her pencil against her book and the long table serving as a desk in her lecture class. Not a word of the professor reached her ears while she gazed past him at the chalkboard. The boys hadn’t gotten home until late the night before, after both her and Tegan had crashed on the recliners. At some point during the night Coran carried Renee to his bed. She decided that she could get used to waking up in his bed next to him; however, she could do without him following her to class.

The man in question sat next to her, pretending to take notes and audit the class. Renee suspected he was actually doodling on his pages instead, but it didn't matter. She tried to pay attention to the lecture, but her mind kept returning to the dream she’d had. Lying in bed with Coran, his hands tracing over her bare skin and his lips devouring hers in a feverish kiss. Yeah, that's what she wanted to think about, not some stupid math problem.

In her dream she recalled a tribal tattoo scrawled across his chest. Her fingers traced it until she’d memorized the black marks. Without actually having seen his naked chest, she counted herself crazy when it came to the dream. It seemed so real until she woke up to Tegan running around the house screaming about being late. Renee blinked a few times when the professor wrote a formula on the board. Taking a few notes, Renee's gaze slid towards Coran and she sighed. 

What she wouldn't give to make the dream a reality. Nibbling her lip, Renee moaned as she tapped her pencil against her notebook and closed her eyes. She swore she could feel his lips brushing against the most sensitive parts of her body. Her face heated and her body tightened in all the right places. She put her head down on the desk and cursed herself quietly.

Coran raised a brow when Renee's head hit the desk. Her face flushed and he couldn't help but wonder what she had been thinking about. He could smell the arousal on her, but doubted the math problem was the culprit. His body stirred with the scent and he had to keep himself from groaning. With the way her smile lit up her face at the sight of him when they’d woken together this morning, he’d almost taken Orion's advice. Though he’d second-guessed it when he wanted to call her Trisha. Renee had the same loving, caring look in her eyes. He recalled the dream that had plagued him since he had met Renee. The feeling of her fingers tracing over his tattoo, her hot breath against his skin, the way her tongue licked and explored his body.

His cock stirred with the memories. Coran glared down past his notes and between his legs, trying to command it to stay down. No luck. But he had other problems to deal with right now, like Lucius sending Kassity after Renee. Coran would hate going against the vampire he owed his life to, but he was willing to do anything to keep Renee from being killed. He needed to think of a way to get the stone from her and keep her safe, hopefully back in her human world without uprooting her too much. Fate hated him. He glanced up when the door at the front of the classroom busted open and people flooded in.