Fated Desire: A Paranormal Romance Novel (The Twisted Destiny Saga Book 1) (11 page)

CHAPTER 19

“We need to find a supernatural version of the pill so we don’t need to use these,” Ryan said, rolling a condom down over his throbbing cock as he straddled his waiting and wanton wife.

“I agree,” she said, gazing up at him with eyes hooded with desire.

He adjusted his weight and pressed the head of his cock to her entrance. “Now, where were we?”

“Round four, I believe.”

He grinned at her and was just about to bury himself inside her tight pussy when a sudden knock at the bedroom door stopped him.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” he hissed, looking down at her with disbelief. “What?” he called out towards the door.

“It’s me. Josh. We have a situation.”

“Right now?”

“Code red, Ry!” he yelled back.

Ryan released a heavy sigh, ripped the condom off and tossed it on the floor angrily. He climbed under the bedcovers and leaned over Cora and pulled her side of the duvet up to shield her naked tits.

“Come in!” he yelled.

Josh opened the door and strode into the room. He smirked when he caught sight of the two of them in bed.

“Something amusing, Josh?” Ryan snapped.

Josh quickly wiped the smirk from his face and shook his head. “No. Sorry.”

“What’s wrong?” Cora asked softly.

Ryan eyed her and shook his head at her with disapproval at her too-gentle tone with Josh. It was how she was with all the boys and he didn’t like it. They needed discipline, not coddling. She sighed and looked away.

“We’ve got two Alphas at the gates, demanding to speak with you.”

“Excuse me?”

“Like I said, code red.”

“Looking for a fight?” Ryan asked. The only reason that another Alpha would ever come knocking at another’s door was to challenge him—to kill him and take his pack.

“They both swear that’s not the reason.”

“Two? Who?”

“Alyssa and Troy.”

“Alyssa?” Ryan asked, taken aback.

“Who’s Alyssa?” Cora asked.

Ryan sighed heavily and climbed out of bed. “My ex.”

“His extremely vengeful and kinda crazy ex,” Josh added.

Ryan flashed Josh a warning glance as he snapped up his jeans from the floor and hurriedly pulled them on.

“Vengeful and crazy, huh?” Cora asked.

“It’s a long story. But if she’s come here asking to see me, she wants my help so she won’t be pulling any more of that shit. Besides, I’m pretty sure she got the message last time I saw her.”

Josh threw him his shirt. Ryan nodded his thanks and pulled it on quickly. He glanced around the room, looking for his jacket, when it suddenly came at him. He caught it and stumbled back from the power of the throw. He eyed the culprit. Cora. She glared hard at him.

“Come with me if you’re worried, darlin’,” he offered, as he slipped on his jacket. “But you should know by now that you are, and always will be, the only one.”

“Smooth talker,” Josh commented.

Ryan smiled innocently at Cora. “I’m serious. Come. But…get dressed first. I don’t want you giving the boys an eyeful. That’s just for me.”

#

Ryan approached the gates with Josh on one side of him and Cora on his other, along with two of his boys at his back. He glared hard at the two unwelcome visitors standing on the other side of the impenetrable metal bars.

Troy looked a lot older than the last time he’d seen him. But that had been more than twenty years ago. They’d run into each other at an Alpha meeting. Every now and then all the Alphas met to discuss business and territory issues. Troy had been pleasant enough when he’d met him. But that didn’t mean he trusted him. As a rule, he didn’t trust anyone outside of his own pack. Troy’s gray, crew cut hair matched his macho military appearance. He wore black tactical pants and a navy cargo jacket. Deep age lines were etched into his face now and his eyes were tired. Ryan knew he’d been Alpha of his pack for the last forty years. And Troy wasn’t immortal like Ryan was. No other wolf was. They all aged, apart from him.

Alyssa was as trashy as he remembered her being. As his gaze raked over her, he couldn’t remember why the fuck he’d ever hooked up with her in the first place. It had been ten years since he’d seen her and he was still disgusted by the sight of her. His anger at what she’d tried to do to him still hadn’t ebbed. Her striking red hair flowed in waves all the way to her waist. The leopard-print dress she was wearing clung to her body and left nothing to the imagination. It barely covered her ass and it was so low cut that her big tits were practically spilling out of it. Gold chains adorned her neck, matching her stiletto heels. The only sense of modesty about her outfit was the crimson jacket that hung off her shoulders.

“Troy,” Ryan said, greeting him politely as he came to a stop at the gates.

Troy nodded back respectfully.

Ryan turned his gaze on Alyssa. “Calling yourself an Alpha now, are you?”

“What else am I supposed to call myself, Ry?” she asked in that fake, sickly sweet way of hers. “I lead my own pack. Why not call myself Alpha?”

“Because you don’t have one of these,” Ryan said, gripping his cock through his jeans.

“Yes, but I remember well how
that
felt thrusting into me.”

Ryan rolled his eyes and turned to Cora. “Sorry. She likes running her mouth off.”

“It’s fine,” Cora said, shrugging.

Ryan draped his arm across her shoulders in a gesture of possessiveness—a warning to Alyssa.

“Girlfriend?” Alyssa asked.

“Wife,” Ryan snapped back.

Alyssa’s eyes narrowed. “She’s not wolf.”

“And you’re a poor excuse for one,” Cora responded before Ryan could get a word out.

He and Josh exchanged a look.
Nice one.

Alyssa growled in response, but she did herself a favor and decided to shut the hell up.

“Great, now that we’re done with the pleasantries, why are you here?” Ryan demanded.

“We need your help,” Troy answered. “Not just us. There are more. We’re just the messengers.”

“More what? Wolves?”

“Alphas. Entire packs. We’re in trouble,” Troy told him. He gestured behind him.

Ryan squinted through the bars, employing his long-range wolf vision, and that was when he saw them. Camouflaged in the night, standing a good hundred feet back at the edge of the woods, were wolves. Hundreds upon hundreds of them. They were in human form, but he knew what they were. He could feel it.

“Oh my God,” Josh breathed as he took in the sight as well.

Ryan heard an audible gasp from Cora beside him.

What the fuck is happening here?
“Is this—?”

“All of us,” Troy cut in. “Every wolf, other than those in the Dark Realm.”

“Where are the other Alphas?”

“Keeping their distance,” Alyssa responded. “It’s no secret that you and I had a
connection
, so they figured you wouldn’t kill me. And you always liked Troy. So they sent us.”

“What?” Ryan asked, confused. “Why are they afraid?”

“Because of the rumors,” Alyssa said.

“Rumors?”

Alyssa gazed at him in wonderment as she said, “That you’re pureblood. The Wolf King.”

Ryan looked at Cora and the same shock blanketed her face.

How do they know?

CHAPTER 20

Ryan stood, his arms folded across his chest, at the edge of the forest, with Cora beside him. He’d ordered Josh to remain on base, just in case this was some sort of trap. As Alpha, he could never be too careful. He had a lot of enemies. Living as long as he had, it was bound to happen.

Hundreds—perhaps thousands—of wolves in human form surrounded him and Cora. Each Alpha stood at the front of their packs, staring at him.

“The Vampire Prince has paid some of you a visit with Michael’s wolves at his back? Is this true?” he called out.

Silence.

“Speak. Don’t be afraid.” He gestured to Cora, “I have my wife with me, I’m not gonna fight.
Unless
I’m provoked, of course.”
Better throw that in, just in case any of the Alphas get any ideas. But the pureblood thing should be more than enough to deter them. Forever. But always better to be safe than sorry.

“It is true!” someone called out.

And then the floodgates opened.

“Five wolf strongholds so far!”

“They killed members of our pack!”

“Torched our homes!”

Ryan held up his hand and silence returned. “Okay. I hear you. And he told you I was a pureblood wolf?”

“He said he’d only stop once the Wolf King—the pureblood—took his rightful place in the Dark Realm! Ryan Winters!” someone answered.

“He is lying,” Ryan responded. “I know the Vampire Prince. He won’t stop. Appeasing him will do nothing.” He drew in a sharp breath and braced himself for what he was about to say, for the significance of what he was about to do.

The day had finally come.

He couldn’t run any longer.

He had to claim his birthright.

“We must fight back!” he thundered.

Silence followed and all he could smell was fear.
Shit, too long in the human realm spent living civilized lives. Our species is weak here.

“I
am
the Wolf King!” he bellowed. “Nathanial murdered my father and took the Dark Realm two centuries ago. And now his son is trying to take
this
realm from all of us. We are
wolves
, my brothers, my sisters. Are you willing to accept vampire dominance? Are we that weak now, that civilized, that fear is the only thing I can smell from you all? Is this how great our species has become? Are we weaker than vampires? Are we?”

When he was answered with yet more silence, Ryan thundered, “Answer me!”

“No,” Troy piped up.

But no more replies followed.

Ryan looked at Cora and said, “Step back, my love.”

Her brow furrowed, not sure what he was about to do.

“I need to show them my strength. Hope trumps fear.”

She nodded her understanding and stepped back a good few feet.

Ryan called the wolf to the surface and let it take him.

Every single wolf took a step forward to get closer to the powerful presence of the white wolf. The
only
white wolf in existence. Ryan howled up at the moon. The tremor of his roar blew through the trees and echoed hauntingly through the dark night.

In seconds, other howls followed. Slowly but surely. Until every wolf was responding to his wolf’s call. The ground vibrated beneath him from the force of the collective howls.

“Holy shit,” he heard Josh gasp. He was suddenly beside Cora with a spare pair of jeans tossed over his arm. Cora must’ve called him then. “They’re all with him. They’re telling him that they will stand with him. All of them, Cora.”

He heard Cora say, “He
is
the Wolf King.”

“Yes,” Josh responded to her. “And, finally, he has acknowledged it, too. The pack will be happy about this.”

“You all know?”

“Everyone knows the white wolf is the Wolf King. But the members of his pack were the only ones that knew the white wolf was
him.
Well, except for Luca. You’re the first person he’s ever shifted in front of, outside of the pack. When he told me, I knew you were his mate. He wouldn’t risk it for anyone less.”

There was a brief silence and then Cora said the very words Ryan was thinking, “War is coming.”

CHAPTER 21

Following the situation outside in the woods, Ryan had acquired a pledge of allegiance from the hundred-and-something Alphas who stood with their packs. In return, he had granted them sanctuary in the military compound. There were thousands of wolves to put up, but the compound extended several acres, so there was plenty of room. He’d briefed his pack on the situation and they all knew the score. No wolf pack liked to invite outsiders into their home, but Ryan had explained that the situation was bigger than all of that.

As King, it was his job to protect them all.

He’d spoken with every male pack and settled them into the compound. And now it was time to deal with the women. He wasn’t relishing the prospect. They were far more difficult than male wolves. Whilst the male wolves accepted his orders without question, the women liked to test the water and question every damned thing. Also, the revelation about him being Wolf King wouldn’t help matters. He knew exactly what he’d be walking in on as soon as he slid aside the heavy titanium door that separated them from the rest of the compound housing the male wolves. It would be a sexual frenzy. But he had no choice. He needed to lay down the law immediately to ensure that they could all coexist together without any major issues.

He heaved aside the heavy door with ease and took a calming breath as he stepped inside. As soon as he was through the door, all eyes turned to him. Hundreds of wolf women all looked his way, their attention riveted on him. Their eyes were hooded with desire as their gazes raked over every inch of his body. He heard several low growls fill the room.
Oh, fuck!

They lunged at him.

The force of them all coming at him at once drove his back against the wall.

They were wild, ravenous, in a sexual frenzy.

“Ladies!” he thundered, quickly following it up with a warning feral growl. He held up his hands. “Release me! Immediately!” he commanded.

“Enjoying yourself?” a voice came from the doorway suddenly.

His gaze snapped to the door, even as he fought against hands roving all over his body and the women crowded around, all trying to get a piece of him.

His wife stood there. To his surprise, she didn’t seem mad,
or
jealous. Instead, she was grinning at him with amusement.

“Just getting things under control here, my sweet,” he said as he pushed away a woman licking his neck.

He watched her stride into the room. She forced her way through the crowd and pushed her way through until she was standing in front of him.

He gripped her hips and held her tightly against him as she stood between him and the women.
Yes, thank fuck.
He was startled when she started speaking to him with her thoughts.

I’m surprised you’re not hard from all that.

Only you get me hard these days, darlin’.

Scared, were you?

Maybe a little. You saw what was going on in here when you walked in.

She chuckled to herself and then she thrust out both her palms. The room echoed with a collective gasp as the crowd immediately stepped back a good few feet. She held her magic tightly to her and Ryan knew that meant she wasn’t intending to strike anyone. It was just a much-needed deterrent. She seemed to understand that it wasn’t their fault. Their reaction to him was instinctual—a primal reaction to him and the revelation of his true power. They worshipped the white wolf—their King—but the women showed it in a completely different way to the men.

“Pull back the wolf for a moment and
think
,” Cora commanded. “He is already mated.”

Ryan watched as the women responded to her words. Whispers and glances of realization filled the room for a good few moments.

“She is my wife,” Ryan told them.

He watched the women hesitate. He saw the disbelief in their eyes. He knew why—Cora wasn’t wolf. They didn’t believe that the King of the Wolves could be mated to a non-wolf.

This isn’t working. Time for a demonstration. Maybe I’ll fuck you right here in front of them.

He felt her tense against him at the sound of his thoughts. He had no intention of taking things so far. He just needed to do enough to bring out the glow—the sure-fire confirmation to them all that Cora was, indeed, his mate.

Before she could stop him, he slipped his hand inside her leather pants. She gasped as he drew his finger slowly along her slit. She was already soaking wet.
Mmm…always so ready for me.
He teased her with all of his fingers, spreading her wetness as his thumb gently flicked her clit.

Ah, yes. Yes. Take me now. Fuck me, baby.

Be careful of your thoughts, my love. I just might do it.

He laughed aloud and then pulled his hand out. A whimper of protest escaped her.

“You see?” he called out to the room.

He drew Cora’s gaze to his and he saw what he knew he would. Her eyes were glowing silver. He knew his were afire with gold, too. He could feel it.

The crowd gasped as they witnessed the proof of their bond.

“Okay, my love. I’ve got this now. Get some rest,” he said, kissing her chastely on the top of her head.

She broke from his hold and spun around. “No. I’ll help them get settled in.”

Ryan scoffed. “I don’t think so.”

Her eyes narrowed. “
I
do.”

He released a frustrated sigh and rubbed the rough stubble on his chin before saying, “I’m not leaving you here alone.”
These women are pissed that you have what they desire,
he told her telepathically, so that the wolves couldn’t overhear him.

I will be fine.

Not happening.

I breached Dark Realm magic to escape Luca’s mansion, overpowered Roy, and saved your life with my blood. I think I’ve got this.

“Cora!” he thundered.

It took him a moment to realize that he’d said it out loud.
Shit
. He glanced around the room. All eyes were on him. Eyes of fear.
Christ, I don’t want to keep my wolves in line with fear. That’s a sign of a bad ruler. A failure of a ruler.
He drew in a breath and pulled Cora outside with him. He kicked the door shut.

Pressing her against the wall and pinning her there by her arms, he told her, as calmly as possible, “Look, I’m sorry I yelled. I just…this…what’s happening is a lot. Right now, I just need you safe. And then I can figure out how to deal with the rest. Just let me handle it.”

“You don’t get it.”

“Get what?”

“I am your
wife
.” She gripped his arms and spun him around, slamming
him
into the wall. Her hands fisted in his shirt, jerking him towards her, as she told him, “We do this
together
. Starting right now. You can’t handle all of this on your own. You’re about to declare war on an entire species, Ryan! You need all the help you can get. And, lucky for you, I’m a pretty powerful ally. So, suck it up and stop being such a chauvinistic, stubborn asshole. Let me help you.”

Ryan took her words in and then he looked down at her hands gripping his t-shirt. He couldn’t help cracking a smile as he said, “Nice moves, darlin’.” He gripped her hands gently and pried them off his shirt. “You’re getting stronger. That almost hurt.”

And then he took her hand and pulled her back into the women’s compound area.

“All right, ladies. My wife is gonna help you all get settled in,” he said pleasantly. “I have three rules. First: you stay in
this
area of the base. Do not go beyond the titanium door. There’s plenty of room. This area of the compound stretches for more than half an acre. There’s plenty of food and provisions. I’m used to catering living arrangements to guys, so if there
is
anything you need that’s not here, let Cora know and we’ll take care of it. Second: no fucking
my
boys. As for the other packs—you ask permission of that Alpha first. And third: you touch my wife and you die. Now, are we clear?”

“What if one of your boys is one of our mates?” a familiar voice came from the crowd.

He knew immediately that it was Alyssa. “You come to me first,” he responded, coldly.

He was expecting many of those cases to arise.
All
the wolves in the human realm were here now in his pack’s base. The likelihood was great.
But
he also knew that some of them—the female and male wolves alike—didn’t care about finding their mate. They just wanted to have fun and fuck. He had to make sure that didn’t happen, especially not with war on his doorstep.

He heard a low hum of acknowledgement. And then he leaned into Cora and whispered, “Be careful, my love.”