Infinity Unleashed (3 page)

She swallowed the bitter bile that rose up her throat, not willing to dwell on the fact that as Kyles Thorburn’s only child, her life had been a series of hard sacrifices. Sacrifices that left burning scars on her soul, but she was resigned to the fact that this was her destiny, and she would be damned if her son would die because of it.

No. Everything she did from here on out would be for him, for the day he, the only pureblood Druid to be born in years, would take his rightful place as the leader of the High Council.

She stepped out of his embrace, anxiously smoothing her flaming-red locks before cupping his cheek. She traced her fingers over the roughness of his beard. He was her rock. Her true-mate, and she loved him more than life, but love was not enough to provide protection against the sharks circling, enticed by the smell of blood in the water. Her blood, if she continued her refusal to submit to the will of her cousin Glen.

Hunter scowled, his eyes transforming from human to wolf, then back again. “You ask too much of me.” He hissed, running an angry hand through his short jet-black hair. “My son…" he snarled, "given to humans to raise as if I weren’t strong enough to protect him.”

She looked at him coldly. “Do you think I actually enjoyed hiding my pregnancy and his birth like some coward? What choice did I have? Glen would have killed him if knew I gave birth to a pureblood Druid.”

Her heart raced at the thought of Glen finding out about her son’s birth. Glen wouldn’t hesitate to kill him. Her son was a pureblood and by legacy, the rightful heir to the throne. A throne coveted by Glen and his father for centuries. A throne they wouldn’t think twice to kill to get.

Glen was a cocky bastard, but she knew under all that cockiness was bitter jealously. Jealously that he was born with the unfortunate blight of not being a pureblood. All attributed to his father’s non-pureblood genetics. Genetics that should have prevented him from becoming the leader of the most powerful Council on this realm.

She continued. “We must be patient and wait until our son turns eighteen. Then he will be able to challenge Glen for the throne.”

“We should have taken a stance and fought. We could’ve protected him. I was willing, but you were not.” His blue eyes narrowed with frustration.

She threw her hands up in the air while pacing back and forth.

“Fight? Are you kidding me? I’m more powerful than every member of the Council and those bitchy Valkyries combined, and still, I cannot protect our baby twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.” She stopped, her body shaking with leashed power. “Do you think it makes a mother happy to know she can’t even protect her own child?”

She pointed at him angrily. “And what if we had chosen that route? We would have lived our lives on the run, towing around an innocent baby. We would always be looking over our shoulders, waiting for the day they’d find us. What kind of life would that be for him? For us? And what if they succeed in killing him? We would be left with absolutely nothing. No son and no throne. All our sacrifices and pain would have been for nothing, allowing them to win.”

Her eyes flashed angrily. “Can you fucking live with that? Because I can’t. Gibbs and Glen have taken everything away from me, from us, and I refuse to roll over and submit, allowing him to take my child too.”

She would be damned if she allowed the bloodline to die with her. The Thorburns were the last of the powerful Immortals. A bloodline whose sole purpose was to provide a pureblood heir to serve as leader of all Others: fae, vampires, and shifters.



Hunter’s fists clenched and unclenched. “You could have asked your father to talk some sense into the Elders. Their antiquated law forbidding a woman to lead the Council is fucking ridiculous.”

She blinked back the tears, calming the whirling emotions that threatened to break her. It hurt to think about her once-vibrant and strong father, Kyles Thorburn, now withering away from a mysterious illness. Just weeks ago, he was the most feared and revered Immortal in this realm. He carried the Thorburn bloodline like a battle-axe as the leader of the Council, reigning supreme for centuries, and his word was absolute law. And anyone who broke it faced his wrath by way of his warriors, the Valkyries, eliminating them swiftly. Now, he was nothing but a mere shadow of himself, too sick to protect her and his grandson.

“There’s nothing he can do now. The Elders have chosen. Glen will lead the Council when my father dies.”

His jaw tightened. “Council? It’s not a Council. It’s a dictatorship. Glen makes all of the decisions, and his gofers Stephan and Gorge simultaneously implement them.” He snorted. “What do you think would happen to Supreme King Stephan if the vampires discover he’s Glen’s puppet?”

Her upper lip curled. She despised Stephan. Stephan, the Supreme King of all vampires, was a slimy prick, whose idea of ruling was to delegate all of his shit tasks to his top minions called vampire kings. Kings who controlled regional vampire clans on his behalf.

“They would slaughter him like a pig.”

“Exactly.” He snapped.

Her brows slightly narrowed. “He’s not the only puppet. Gorge is a sniveling idiot.
He’s all brawn and no brains
.
”

Hunter’s jaw tensed. He detested Gorge. Gorge, the Supreme King of all wolf-shifters, crawled his way to the top with a reign of blood, terror, and carnage that garnered him more enemies than allies. His top lieutenants, the wolf kings, controlled regions that were divided into Covenants. Membership into the Covenants was highly demanded by the strongest and wealthiest of the Alpha wolf-shifters, but membership came at a price, by means of pledging their lives to Gorge for a chance at getting one of the highly coveted pureblood she-wolves as a mate. And wolf-shifters that refused to kowtow to Gorge were labeled rogues and outcasts from Other society.

“On the bright side of this clusterfuck, Glen will only be acting leader. He still must pass his probationary period to assume permanent power.”

The thought sickened her. For months she watched with fear as the twelve Elders—her ancestors, the Immortal Druids—argued over who should lead when her father died. The Elders, whose souls were bound to the earth, to balance to the Others, were the ultimate in power. The choice should have been clear. According to Immortal law, only a pureblood Thorburn could rule the High Council and Others. But the Elders were split on who should lead. Half wanted her, despite their reservation about allowing the first woman ever to rule. The other half refused to allow a woman to lead.

So they debated needlessly, as chaos of the Fire and Ash war rained over the Others without a strong leader in place. The Others grew darker as sanity leeched out of them. Balance disappeared and the Others splintered into warring factions that barely held themselves together. In a stunning move that rocked her world, the Elders decided to break their stalemate by issuing a challenge to Glen… Resolve the chaos without their intervention and the Council would be given to him to lead.

Glen immediately ordered the Valkyries to kill all Others. His attempt at killing two birds with one stone… eliminating the Others he despised and gaining his dream position. But in puzzling move, the Valkyries disobeyed his direct order. This set off a chain of shocking events, including the Elders decision to give Glen leadership of the Council upon her father’s death.

He glowered. “Glen’s not stupid. He knows the Elders are watching closely. He won’t violate his probation.”

She pursed her lips. “And I’m betting that he will. He’s greedy, cocky, and impatient. He’ll violate his probation. We just have to wait.”

“I can’t do this Azura. I can’t wait around while the Elders toy with our fate.” She stepped forward, reaching up to cup Hunter’s face between her hands. He rubbed his cheek against her fingers, languishing in her touch.

“Hunter, please understand. There is no other path. We must wait.”

He kissed her hard on the lips before letting out a soft sigh. “As always, I trust your judgment and stand by your side.”

She placed a finger under his chin, staring at him. “Thank you, my love.” She smiled sadly before looking over at the clock. “It’s show time.”

Azura smoothed down her crème sheath dress before placing a hand on his elbow. The cold air whirled around them before she dematerialized, taking him with her, and materialized before her father’s door. Hunter hovered protectively as she tossed her waist-length copper-red hair over her shoulder.

Her body shook with rage at the sight of Stephan and Gorge hovering outside the door like vultures. Their angry shouts reverberated throughout the hallway, reminding her of the history-making moment of her father’s impending death. A death they gleefully awaited.

“Out of my way, idiots.” She sneered.

They grumbled with displeasure before reluctantly moving out of her way. They swiftly closed ranks, blocking Hunter’s path.

“He is not welcome,” Gorge barked.

Hunter growled menacingly. “Where my true-mate goes, so do I.”

“Not today, rogue.” Gorge spat out the words.

Hunter’s body bristled at the insult. Swiftly, Azura placed a gentle hand on Hunter’s wrist. “I’ll be all right. Let me handle Glen and Gibbs.”

“Azura…” Hunter snarled.

“Trust me.” She winked at him. “Besides, I’m sure you can think of lots of fun ways to taunt our friends out here while you wait impatiently.”

Stephan and Gorge mumbled with displeasure as Hunter’s lips curled up into a sneer displaying his wicked canines.

She opened the door, striding into her father’s massive suite. A mixture of anger and sadness simmered like a flame underneath the cool exterior of her Alpha façade. Deliberately ignoring the Valkyries positioned throughout the main area of the suite, she swayed past them. They bristled angrily at her presence but were smart enough to know she wouldn’t hesitate to use her powers to turn them into dust where they stood.

It was sad how her relationship with them had deteriorated since her father had become ill. The Valkyries were once the most revered and powerful warriors under her father’s command, their duty only to serve him by keeping the Others from breaking the Immortals laws. Infractions under her father’s reign were dealt with swiftly but fairly, but now, something had changed within the ranks of the Valkyries.

Azura reached out with her powers, sensing the palpable worry within each of them. Mist had gone missing. No doubt Glen had something to do with her disappearance. Now without their leader, the team was unhinged. To make matters worse, according to gossip leaked from the Council, as soon as Glen assumed power, his first order of business was to hand out punishment for their disobedience.

She looked on grimly as Kara, the Valkyries second-in-command, nodded her head grudgingly. “Azura.”

“Kara,” she responded coolly, refusing to dwell on the fact her once best friend was now distant and cold. Striding past her, she sighed heavily before stepping into her father’s room, only to be greeted by Glen and Gibbs crowding her father’s bed while he lay pale and listless.

“I bet you can’t wait to plan your coronation party.” She sneered at Glen.

“It’s already planned.” Glen sneered right back.

She strode up to the massive bed, shoving him away. “Well, he’s not dead yet. Have some fucking respect.”

Grabbing the back of her neck possessively, he spun her around, running a finger across her cheek. “You know that this
insolence
is pointless.” He purred in a voice that was way too intimate for her liking. “When I officially take over as leader of High Council, I will own everything. The Council. The Valkyries… and most importantly… you.” His fingers tightened painfully. “You’re just fighting the inevitable.” He licked his lips, looking at her with lustful eyes.

“Get your filthy hands off me before I break them,” she hissed.

Gibbs sputtered angrily. “Azura! Your disrespect for my son’s position will end tonight.”

Glen held up his hand impatiently, cutting off his father’s tirade. “You will submit to me, Azura,” he responded with a hard tone.

She snorted, brutally stepping out of his grip, losing a couple of strands of hair in the process. She smiled coldly. “I will only submit to one man… Hunter.”

Glen’s eyes filled with rage. His lips curled up into a nasty sneer. “I always get what I want. Hunter is an obstacle easily eliminated.”

She quickly hid her turbulent, churning emotions beneath a neutral mask before responding. “Unlike you, my mate is not afraid to die. So killing him won’t change a damn thing,” she spat with venom-laced eyes. “I will never be your mate and I’ll never be yours. So fuck off, Glen.”

He smirked. “We’ll see.”

“How dare you threaten my daughter?”

Their heads snapped around at the sound of Kyles’s weak voice. His apple-green eyes were wide open and focused on Glen.

“Alpha,” Gibbs and Glen both said in unison before stepping away from her guiltily.

“Leave us,” Kyles roared, his face a mask of rage. “I need to say my final good-bye to my daughter.”

“Yes, Alpha,” both Gibbs and Glen said mockingly before angrily stepping out of the room, slamming the door behind them.

Instantly, Azura threw her body over her father, breaking down in a fit of tears.

He rubbed his hands comfortingly across her back. “I’m not afraid to die.” She looked up at him tearfully. “Well, I’m afraid for you." She smiled sadly. “Besides, what will I do without your pain-in-the-ass attempts at running my life?”

He scowled at her playfully. “Since you’re fucking it up royally, I guess you’re lucky my soul is destined to stick around to ensure it doesn’t completely go to hell.”

She looked at him sadly, not appeased by the fact that upon his death, his soul would be bound to the earth to serve as the thirteenth Immortal. “It’s not the same.” Her voice hitched. “What will I do without you?”

All playfulness was instantly gone as he gritted his teeth. “Fight. They will seek to tear you down. Fight them and always remember who you are. The most powerful pureblood alive.” He coughed loudly before looking at her wisely. “Make that you
were
the most powerful pureblood alive. Now, your son is.”