Deciding Her Faete (Beyond the Veil Book 2) (11 page)

Chapter Sixteen

Donovan could not remember ever being this frustrated, angry, and horny at the same time. He had been sitting in Gabe’s office, doing his level best to pay attention to his Alpha, when suddenly it began to feel like his mate was leaning back against him, skin on skin. It had been the most sensual and weirdest feeling of his life. He had known that April was nowhere near him, but by the Goddess, in that moment, he actually smelled the citrus scent of her goddamned shampoo.

“For fuck’s sake,” Donovan snarled as he glared down at his mate and his brother, both of whom were still laughing like fucking hyenas at his expense. “I sent you a warning with the hope that you would cut a guy some slack and give me a freakin’ break so I could get through that damn meeting. But did you? No, you both decided it would be much better to amplify whatever the fuck you had going on in here, and had me coming like an untried teenager in my jeans … in a room full of fucking wolf shifters who knew exactly what had happened and could scent the proof!”

April winced. “I’m so sorry, baby. I don’t know how that happened. I wasn’t aware that it was affecting you like it was Jason and me.”

“I’m not sorry,” Jason, the smug bastard boasted as he lay back in the bath water. “That was the most explosive orgasm of my life, and I am not about to regret one single moment of it.”

Donovan growled low in his chest as he stomped over to the shower, turning the water on before pulling his shirt over his head. “That’s just perfect. I am never going to live that down. Ever.” Donovan continued to mutter and complain as he stripped off his jeans, and underwear, grimacing as he drew off the wet material before stepping into the shower. He washed up quickly then put his arm up to rest against the wall under the heavy stream of water, letting the heat relax some of the tension from his shoulders.

In an effort to forget about the single most embarrassing moment of his adult life, he instead thought about what Gabe had been discussing before his dick had taken over. Their Alpha’s plan was to go on a little recon mission, and that meant silent in and silent out. Any information they found would help in the fight, and Gabe was giving him the mission lead. It was an honor, and Donovan was determined to do a good job. Especially as the meeting ended with him biting back a roar as his body betrayed his will and him shooting his load in his boxers!

Turning the water off with a sigh, Donovan left the shower and reached for a towel. He glanced over at the bath and saw his brother was still lounging in the water with a look of abject satisfaction on his ugly mug.

Damn.
What the hell happened here?

  “Brother, you are in for a treat,” Jason murmured as he cracked his eyes open and looked over at him. “And if what happened to you is a by-product of what our mate is about to introduce you to, then I am going to enjoy the hell out of it.”

Donovan frowned at Jason’s cryptic words before dropping his towel in the laundry basket and striding out of the bathroom. His intention was to get dressed and talk to April rationally about why her not being on the mission was really for the best. However, all thought of rational conversation flew out the window at the sight that greeted him in the bedroom.

April knelt on the bed, completely naked, her left hand gently cupping her left breast and her right hand sliding against her wet pussy. Donovan believed his jaw would have dropped directly to the floor, not passing Go, and not collecting two hundred dollars if his tongue had not been stuck to the roof of his suddenly dry mouth.

“Hmmm, I thought you were going to take too long in that shower,” April purred as her hands kept moving, holding Donovan mesmerized. “Now, I want to ask you a couple of questions. Will that be okay, Donovan? Just a couple of innocent questions?”

Donovan nodded, still unable to form words. He stumbled toward the bed, his cock now painfully hard and bobbing against his stomach as he walked.

“Lie down on your back beside me, baby,” April said in a voice filled with heat and suggestion, and Donovan was helpless to resist. He crawled up on the bed, then rolled to his back beside his mate, his face close to her pussy. He inhaled deeply drawing the scent of his mate’s arousal into his lungs, growling at the enticingly spicy fragrance.

He ran his fingers through her wet folds, but before he could touch her, he felt a phantom hand slide along his wrist halting his movement. Startled, he stopped moving and looked up at his mate.

April reached out with the hand that had been delving into her pussy and swept a wet finger across his bottom lip. With a moan, he licked the juicy treat off with his tongue and drew her flavor into his mouth.

“It’s okay, Donovan. I just know that if I let you touch me, this will be over before I get to ask my questions, and I
really
want to ask those questions. Put your arms out to the side and spread your legs a little. Let me look at what’s mine while we play my little game.”

Donovan grinned and moved to comply. “I am loving this side of you, angel. It’s hot and sexy as hell.”

April smiled wickedly at him as her hand went back to its slow travels over her pussy. “I’m glad you think so because I think I’m going to love when you give me control in the bedroom. It’s not something I will demand every time, but right now, it is a pretty heady feeling. Now, let’s get the questions out of the way because I have a need to ride my mate hard.”

Donovan’s cock twitched at the thought of that.

“Question number one, do you like the fact that I am both Fae and shifter?”

“Hell yes.” Donovan’s answer was immediate, no hesitation. “Not only is my mate the hottest woman on the planet who can get me rock hard with a single look, but she’s someone who can run with me in that form, something I am looking forward to doing soon, and you’re a fucking Fae healer? Win, win, win as far as I’m concerned.”

April blushed prettily as she moved her hands to his chest, her hands warm against his skin, and gave him a dazzling smile. “That’s the perfect answer. You deserve a reward.”

Donovan had a split second to wonder what that reward might be before his body lit up with pleasure and he arched up off the mattress. Her palms emitted a blue light against his chest. “Holy mother of fuck!” he roared as what felt like April’s hands massaged, and caressed every inch of his skin, and he had no idea how she was doing it, but he could have sworn he felt her mouth wrapped tight around his cock in that moment, too.

Then it stopped, and he collapsed back against the bed, breathing heavily. He heard his brother groan from the bathroom and realized that Jason was feeling a similar pleasurable feedback down their mating link to what he had felt earlier in the meeting.

“What the hell was that?” Donovan’s voice was hoarse.

“Turns out, I can do a lot more with my powers than just heal.” April grinned, and her hands on his chest were still glowing with a blue energy. “And it feels just as pleasurable to me as it does to you. Trust me. Now, for question number two. Do you still think I should stay behind when you go on this little recon trip?”

Donovan knew it was a trap. Hell, he could basically hear the sirens going off in his head, but he couldn’t lie to his mate. Not now, not ever. “Yes, baby, I do.” April’s eyes narrowed, and all the pleasure leeched out of his body. He looked down as his cock deflated right before his eyes. “Fuck.”

“Nope! There will be no fucking here with an attitude like that,” April said rather matter-of-factly as she sat back, and the heat and pleasure that had been burning in her eyes moments before had banked down to a simmer. “As I explained to your brother, I am a partner in this relationship, and I am not the type of woman who can sit back and keep the home fires burning while the menfolk go off to war. I need you to respect that, and I have proven that I could handle myself. How can I be worthy of the two of you otherwise?”

Donovan’s eyes narrowed. She had a lot to learn, not just about being a wolf, but about her own self-worth, and about being mated. He moved to sit up, but found that his limbs were locked in position. “April, let me up.”

“No.” Her bottom lip came out, and she pouted prettily at him. “I am not letting you up until you come to your senses.”

Donovan growled, and his wolf began to pace agitatedly within him. “Then we might be here for a fucking long time. You ask me to see your side and respect it, but you are not willing to do the same. You are our
mate,
April. Worthy of us as we will strive to be worthy of
you
, and let me fill you in how this mating thing works while I’m at it. You are everything to Jason and me. There is no Donovan without you. There is no Jason without you. If anything happened to you, it would kill us both. If you were hurt when we could have prevented it, or Gods forbid, taken from us, then we would follow. We would have no choice. And this is not about the goddamn bond or some magical connection that exists because of our mating claim. This is about the fact that I gave you my heart and Jason gave you his, and we are doing everything in our power to convince you to give us yours in return.

“But I also know that you are strong. Hell, baby, you got yourself out of that lab without our help. You fought that bastard with everything within you, and you were willing to go a round or five with our Alpha for us. So as much as it kills me to say no to you, I don’t want you on this mission. You just shifted for the first time, and there is still a lot about being a wolf that you need to learn before you rush into any situation. I would say the exact same thing to any member of our pack, male or female. I do want you standing and fighting right beside me, to help us to rid the earth realm, the Fae realm, hell every damn realm that exists, of that fucker Kheelan, but I am making this decision as Beta of our pack, not just as your mate. Instead of asking us to come to our senses, maybe you can try to see it from our points of view.

“Now, the scent of your arousal is driving me crazy, and despite the fact that you stole my erection, I want you to fuck me into the goddamn mattress, so get on with your questions and take me into your sweet body, or release me from these bindings and leave me to my misery.”

A breathless silence met his emotional speech, and Donovan watched his woman, waiting to see what she did next. Horror filled him when he saw moisture gathering in her eyes, and he was about to apologize for everything but saw the sweetest smile grace her beautiful face.

“I have already given you my heart. You both had it from the very first day—Jason at the diner, and you, when I heard your voice on the phone,” she whispered moments before a heat began to build in his chest below her hands. “I realize we aren’t always going to agree on everything, so let’s just agree to disagree for now.”

Donovan relaxed back into the magical hold she had on him and watched as she lifted herself up and swung her left leg over his hips so that she straddled him.
I have already given you my heart
. He smiled wide at the words repeating themselves in his head.  The heat on his chest lifted slightly when she moved a hand down to press the head of his cock against her pussy, and then in a move he could do nothing but appreciate the hell out of, she rolled her hips in a tight circle and took him to the hilt.

“Fuck! Hot, tight,” Donovan growled as his mate began to slide up his cock, then slam back into him, fucking him into the mattress just like he wanted.

“You might … want to… hold on to something,” April panted, and he stared up into her beautiful face, her red hair falling in a silken curtain around her, but it was the emotion swirling in her eyes that had him holding his breath. She was stunning.

Then, somehow she was everywhere again, touching him, stroking him, phantomly sucking him deep into the wet hot cavern of her mouth, even as her pussy rippled tightly around him. Donovan cried out at the pleasure that slammed through him, and he arched his back off the bed. He wanted to reach up and wrap his arms around April, but she still held his arms and legs immobile and the sensation was hot and frustrating at the same time.

April arched her back, and light seemed to burst from inside her. Pleasure slammed through him, driving him into the hardest orgasm of his life. His entire body locked for a moment as he heard his brother shouting his release in the bathroom and his mate screaming hers above him. Then his orgasm crashed over him, and he roared her name to the heavens, pledging his life and his love for her in that one single perfect moment.

Chapter Seventeen

It had been exactly five minutes since Donovan, Jason, and their merry band of wolves had left for their recon mission. Five minutes that seemed more like five hours to April. The idea of letting more minutes go by while all she did was wait and made herself sick with worry in the process, seemed unfathomable to her. She hadn’t actually uttered the words that she, in fact,
agreed
to stay behind, only that she agreed to disagree.  It certainly wasn’t her problem if that was the impression her mates got.

She threw open the front door to the cabin, but before she could exit, two sets of hands were pushing her back inside.

“You’re going to have to be a lot stealthier than that,” Erica pointed out. Corrine hummed her agreement. “Naturally, we’re going to use the back door, but first,” Erica whipped out a long blade with symbols she was beginning to recognize as belonging to the Fae language, and handed it to her, “I am going to give you a quick lesson on how to swing this bad boy. You’ve already got the super juice necessary to do some major damage I presume, given how you blasted your way out of that secret mad science lab and all. Pretty badass, I must say.”

“She
is
my niece,” Corrine added with a proud smile and a wink at April. “I’d expect nothing less.”

April returned her smile, already feeling a bond forming with her newly discovered aunt. She felt a similar bond forming with Erica as well, recognizing a kindred spirit in her. “How did the two of you know I’d follow after them?”

Erica and Corrine exchanged glances before they burst out laughing. “I knew your intent as well as mine and Erica’s the minute you stormed out of the den,” Corrine stated, “and it wasn’t because of my Seer abilities.”

“Besides, the last time that I left on a mission on my own, Ben and Leo came for me, so now it’s my turn to follow them,” Erica explained. “And sometimes our men need saving, too. I mean how did those idiots think they were going to get inside should they need to without someone of the Fae persuasion to open the portal through the Veil for them?”

“Idiots, indeed.” Corrine harrumphed.

“Speaking of
our
men,” Erica turned to Corrine, “where does Gabe think you are?”

“Don’t start that with me again, Erica. He’s not
mine
. I told you it was far more complicated that you can imagine.”

“But he loves you. Anyone with eyes and half a brain can see that.”

Corrine gave Erica a look that silenced her immediately. Erica may be the Queen, but it was obvious that Corrine was no one to be messed with. April had noticed earlier how she and Gabe continuously snuck looks at one another when they thought no one would notice, and how Corrine seemed to be the only one who could sway Gabe after he’d made up his mind on a subject. She’d just assumed they were an item.

“I told Gabe I was tired, going to nap in my room and did not wish to be disturbed. Now then,” Corrine waved a hand dismissively, “are we going to stand around here all day, or are you going to show our April here some moves so we can get the hell out of here?”

The latter option won. April knew, after Erica expertly demonstrated different ways to swing the blade, that it would take her years to master the art, but as she held the blade in her hands, it almost felt like an extension of her. She didn’t need to have mastery in it yet to exude her power with it. She sliced the air from left to right and then back, hearing a whooshing sound with each pass, and then she felt the vibrations coursing through her body as the entire blade glowed from her blue spark.

“Oh yeah! I can do some serious damage with this baby.”

Corrine smiled sadly at her. “That blade belonged to your mother.” She explained that she had kept it safely with her ever since Ilyra’s death, but had never used it as if she’d known that it was not meant for her. April couldn’t help the choked up feeling she got as she looked at the blade anew.

After practicing for a few more minutes, she felt confident that she wouldn’t be a menace with the blade. She didn’t have the years of experience with a sword that Erica and Corrine did, so it would have to be her powers that would prove her worth in the coming battle, but the fact that her weapon had belonged to her mother made it seem as if Ilyra would be with her, protecting her once again. Corrine and Erica both brandished their own curved blades with similar markings. She could tell that both women would be nothing short of fierce in combat.

With another lesson in stealth, the three of them managed to leave the grounds undetected. She was very much impressed, especially when they came across a green jeep parked less than a mile away and Erica prompted them all to get in.

“I have my ways,” she winked as she started up the ignition. “I am Queen after all.”

Fortunately, April had memorized the way back to the cliff on the drive home with Donovan and Jason and then after parking the jeep out of sight, she led them the rest of the way on foot.

“This is as far as we go for now,” Erica whispered. “Otherwise, the guys will pick up our scent and get distracted.”

They crouched low behind the cover of tall grass and surrounding bushes not too far from the river that April had rested beside after first escaping. The proximity of the river would also help in the masking of their scent. Now that April knew how to focus her enhanced vision, she could see the cave entrance in the far off distance, even now as darkness fell upon them. The men, however, were out of sight.

Their plan was to do their own recon at first and assist should the wolves encounter any problems or realize that they needed to gain access beyond the Veil to get through the entrance of the cave. Secretly, April hoped to witness their “duh” moment. Jason and Donovan may have been right about the fact that her lack of control over her wolf would be her weakness, but their overpowering need to protect her was theirs.

She’d already mentally prepared herself for a fight just in case, despite learning that Fae would turn to ash if killed outside of the Veil. A cold shiver ran up her spine at the thought of seeing that, and yet, it completely subsided when she pictured Kheelan as nothing more than a pile of dust. That must have been what Donovan had meant when he told her he’d bring back his ashen heart. A wicked smile had formed on her lips at the thought of that, her wolf approving of the idea, but it was quickly replaced by a frown.

“Is that what would happen to the three of us?” she suddenly asked Corrine and Erica, recalling their earlier conversation in the car.

“What?” Corrine and Erica both asked in unison.

“If
we
die in this realm, do we become nothing more than ash?”

Erica bit her lip and remained silent, but Corrine, after a pensive moment, answered her. “You and Erica will not. You both are mated to wolves and therefore, your spirits have strong ties to both realms, although, April, since you are part wolf, you’ve always had ties to both.”

“What difference does it make?” Erica muttered quietly, looking straight ahead. “Dead is dead. Doesn’t matter if we have a body to bury or ashes to scatter.”

April wished she’d never asked. The idea that there was even a remote chance of seeing Corrine as nothing but ash was horrifying to her as well. She let the subject drop and turned to focus her attention where it should be at the moment.

“Those three stones above the crevice are definitely not a product of natural formation. They were put there,” Corrine remarked.

They looked almost like giant headstones and upon closer inspection, she saw ancient Fae symbols on them. “Holy crap!” The symbols changed right before her eyes. “Did you guys see that?”

Corrine gasped. “Impossible.”

“What does it mean?” Erica asked, concern lacing her tone.

April found herself concerned as well. Corrine’s ominous expression implied that the stones could only be nefarious. She watched Corrine’s lips moving as she silently read the changing symbols.

“If those are the same symbols I think they are, they should have been lost to the Fae hundreds of years ago,” she turned to look at April, “along with the people who created them. Tell me more about this Frederych. What powers did he possess?”

“You mean other than making me feel like my insides were trying to become outsides?”

“Shh!” Erica held up her hand to silence them and looked as if she listened intently.

Then April heard a rustling noise, and within moments, they found themselves face to face with four angry wolf shifters. The fifth one hung back holding onto a very bloodied Fae guard, whom April immediately recognized. She had blasted him out of her way during her escape, after all.

“What the hell do you think you three are doing?” Jason snapped through gritted teeth.

“I suggest you to tone it down, wolf,” Corrine snapped back. She stood up from her crouched position, seeming a lot taller than her five-foot-four frame. “Typically speaking, I believe you’re the ones meant to heel. Not the other way around.”

April would have died laughing from the identical five jaw drops if her men didn’t look so angry. Ben and Leo looked none too pleased either as they glared at their own mate, and, Niall, she assumed his name was, looked as if he wanted to laugh after the shock of her statement wore off.

“While you cavemen beat your chests, vowing to protect your women, and storming off to save the day,” Corrine continued to the men who wisely chose to remain silent, “not one of you considered the possibility that you might need assistance opening up the entryway. Even the big bad Alpha man himself didn’t think to ask to borrow a skilled guard or two from Erica.” She tilted her head to the side and looked at Niall and the bloody charge he had hold of. “Apparently, though, you did not need our assistance.”

It was Niall who spoke next. “We found this one patrolling the outside. We are taking him back for questioning.”

“Gabe and I had already decided against going through the Veil,” Donovan said matter-of-factly. “Entering their territory without knowing how many Fae we would run into would not have been prudent.” He continued to keep his cool when he added, “We also had Ishaya on standby. There is another Veil entrance not too far from here, and he offered to sneak in and do recon inside if need be.”

April suddenly felt bad for doubting them. Obviously, these wolves were not just deadly, but highly trained soldiers. She’d been on her own so long now that learning to rely on others was proving to be more difficult than she’d realized. She knew her mates were strong and dependable, but she couldn’t lie to herself either. Her decision to follow would still have been the same, be it a recon mission or a bloody battle because her need to protect them was as strong as theirs was to protect her.

“Well,” Corrine looked at April and Erica, both of whom had already stood up. “Our assistance was not needed after all. No harm done. Shall we all go then?” She turned back to the men. “Or should we stick around? We might get lucky and get a chance to see April in action with her new blade fighting skills.”

Both Donovan and Jason growled, and April immediately stood in between them and Corrine. No point in goading them any further. She understood all too well a wolf’s fierce and sometimes even irrational need to protect its mate, whether the danger was real or imagined.

Suddenly the scent of blood, familiar blood, hit her nostrils. She turned to look at Donovan and Jason and saw that they both sported identical bite marks on opposite arms. “Oh my God. You’re both bleeding.”

She picked up each of their arms to examine them. Erica and Corrine moved in closer to get a better look, too.

“It’s nothing,” Donovan said, waving them off. “That fucker bit us.” He inclined his head toward the captive Fae.

Erica looked astonished. “Since when do Fae bite?”

“We’re fine,” Jason dismissed, clearly still miffed, but when he took April’s hand in his, he did it gently and not out of anger. “Let’s get out of here. We need some answers out of him and a more discreet place to make him a bit more cooperative.”

“Okay, but as soon as we get back, I need to look at those wounds. Both of you.”

Donovan took her other hand, and they began walking toward the road, the rest of their party following suit. When they had almost reached the jeep—the men had a small van parked nearby—Donovan howled in pain and fell to his knees. Moments later, Jason had the same reaction.

April dropped to her knees as well, placing a hand on each of the bite marks, and watched in horror as her healing power had absolutely no effect on the wound.

“Erica,” she cried out. Erica quickly kneeled beside her and placed her hands on top of April’s, increasing their healing power tenfold and still nothing happened.

Panic threatened to choke her when she saw blood trickling out of Jason and Donovan’s noses and from the corners of their eyes. She saw them both struggling to stifle their grunts of pain, and she knew it was for her sake.

“What’s happening? Why can’t we heal them?” she asked no one in particular.

A loud cackling laughter came from the Fae. “It’s a gift made especially for you, April … from Kheelan.”

His laughter was cut short when Niall punched him in the face and knocked him out.

“Hurry,” Corrine said, “let’s get them back to the house. I have my potions there.”