Shifter's Revenge (Alpha Lineage) (19 page)

The water ran in the faucet while she brushed her teeth, she felt thankful to have her own things at her fingertips again. Living off of the N. Divisions provisions had been ok while her mind was on other things, but now that she was back in Maddox’s room she was glad to have her own clothes and toiletries again.

After Nick had gone out for a run to clear his head, Jason and Maddox disappeared for what Kera figured was a long overdue father son chat. She wondered if the office was protected by some sort of spell that kept the voices inside from being heard by strong hearing. She couldn’t even hear the barest of whispers. Her curiosity levels had been making her so antsy that she chose to go into the training room and workout a little.
She pulled on some yoga pants, a sports bra and a tank and made her way to the training room. She passed a few men who were roaming the halls and wondered how odd it was that it was in the middle of the night and everyone seemed to be far from calming down and going to bed. It wasn’t that she didn’t feel the fatigue from the morning’s work with the soldiers and the afternoon of battling the Arizona man and almost losing her life and the lives of everyone she loved. She was, but she checked it. She didn’t want to be sleeping when the other occupants were wide awake.

She also didn’t want to be sleeping in Maddox’s bed without him.
She already planned to talk with him. She wanted to sit him down and pull the thought out of him. She had to know what the deaths of his cousins were doing to him. He had killed three of them, for her.

After spending a little time punching on the bag hanging from the ceiling, Kera felt increasingly out of her element. In the back of her mind she had been thinking about all that her and her own father had spoken about a few days ago. She remembered the pictures and the feelings she got when she
thought of her gymnastic training and twirling routines.

Kera looked through the equipment and pulled some weights off of a large barbell. The weight shifted through her fingers and the little ribs that were meant for gripping
clung to her skin. She figured it was good for what she wanted to attempt. She twirled the barbell and tossed it into the air. When she caught it she did a small twist, flinging her leg out and up as her torso twisted toward the ground in a front turn. When she righted her body, the barbell came up and threaded through her fingers. She thought a moment before she tossed it to the mat and stretched a little before she went through the foggy motions of an advanced routine she learned for competition. Her feet hit the concrete and then the mat as she ran into a handspring and then a round off back handspring. Feeling a bit more confident she tried a few layouts and bounced on the mat wishing it had more spring to it. With a shrug of her shoulders she pushed the thought to the side and continued for a good hour or so with the floor work before she picked the barbell back up and incorporated it into a new routine that included imaginary bad guys to bring down.

Sweat dripped down her back and between her breasts. She wiped her brow with the edge of her tank and moved over to the punching bag again. Heart beating with adrenaline and
her lungs working oxygen through her blood with each labored breath, Kera positioned the barbell in her fingers and swiped out at the bag. She winced a little at the intensity of the feeling. The vibrations from the barbell hitting the bag was different that swiping through imaginary people as she had been doing.

After a few more hits Kera felt a little more comfortable with the sensation. Instead of letting her stomach flutter with fear, she thought about how angry she was with all that happened to her. She closed her eyes and pulled in a few settling breaths before she unleashed her fury and pounded on the bag with the barbell. Each hit coursed through her. Each swipe and jab took some of that fear and pain away. By the end of it she was sweating and panting. The bag was torn and bleeding sand to the floor.

Kera fell to her knees and closed her eyes. She called out to the magick inside of her and found what she needed to repair the damage.

Pleased with herself, Kera put everything as it was and went back to Maddox’s room to shower. Her stomach growled loudly and fatigue washed over her as her heart rate calmed. Being that she worked in a diner almost all of her adult life, Kera decided to make breakfast for everyone. She jumped out of the shower and dried off. After pulling on a fresh pair of jeans and a T shirt, she brushed her teeth.

Which brought her thoughts back to now, the faucet was still running when the door to Maddox’s room opened softly. Kera stepped back to the bathroom door to see Maddox walk through. He looked at the bed then turned to her and slid his eyes over her body.

“I thought you would be asleep.”

Kera shook her head. She moved back into the bathroom and rinsed her mouth and toothbrush before turning off the faucet. She ran her fingers through her wet hair and exited the bathroom.

Maddox stood in the same position by the door. His dark hair was unruly, like he had run his hand through it many times. His eyes were sunken with worry and the piercing blue had turned dull and smoky. His jaw was set and tension corded the muscle in his neck and shoulders. She could tell whatever he and Jason spoke about hadn’t set well with him. The heaviness of it seemed to cover him.

“You look exhausted.” Kera murmured, unease gripping her heart.

“Come here.”

“I was going to make breakfast.”

“Come here.”

She hesitated another moment.

It must have been for longer than he had the patience for because Maddox ate up the distance between them with a few long strides. He reached out and buried his hands in her hair and tilted her head up to his. “You unpacked our things.”

“Yes.”

“Did you get some rest?”

Kera studied his face for a moment, unable to tell if he was upset with her for putting everything away. “Are we still leaving?”

Maddox ignored her, already moved on. “It’s been a long day, Kera, tell me you got some sleep.”

“No, I…” she was silenced by a passing emotion in the smoky blue, grey of his iris.

“Fuck,” He bit out, then he heard her stomach let out a rumble. “Fuck.”

“Maddox,” she placed her hands on his hips and applied pressure to the muscle there, “let me make breakfast and we’ll come back here and talk.”

His fingers tightened around the strands of wet her at the base of her skull, “talk?”

Kera searched his face again wanting desperately to figure out what was going on inside his head. “I told you we needed to talk.”

“Uh huh,” he murmured darkly, “we’ve done a lot of that lately and I’m not sure I liked where it was going.”

Kera blushed. Her head hadn’t been in the right place since Andrew’s attack. In fact, she had gone from tripping over herself for ways to keep her secret a secret to wanting to keep Maddox at arm’s length so she could prove herself worthy. She felt stupid now that she stood before him looking into his eyes. There wasn’t anything that she needed to do but take this one day at a time. Either they worked out or they didn’t. Maddox had given her no sign of the latter but she kept pulling that into their relationship. They’d only known each other a few months but they had been intense.

“I’ve been wrong about a lot of things.” She agreed slowly. “I checked out of life at sixteen and just woke up when I met you. Think of me as a modern day Snow White. I was
poisoned by what happened to my mother but you pulled me out of that. I may be erratic emotionally but that isn’t what I want to talk about.”

Maddox paused a moment, face blank of all emotion, before he spoke. “Erratic emotionally?”

Kera nodded hesitantly.

“Erratic emotionally?” he repeated.

“Yes, but…”

Maddox burst out laughing. He pulled her to his chest and she rested her cheek on the side of his neck. His chest shook as he fought to control the humor that bubbled up inside of him.

Kera wrapped her arms around him and held on tight. She had never, never seen him laugh like this and she was going to enjoy it. She didn’t care if he was making fun of her. “It’s not funny, really.”

His fingers tightened in her hair again and he pulled her gently to face him. His eyes danced with humor as he smiled a perfect white smile. “You have no idea, Kera.” He told her as his eyes searched her face. “No idea.”

He kissed her then. His lips soft and gentle against hers. His tongue pressed against her lips as he traced them. Her fingers tightened in the back of his shirt as warmth and power pulsed from his skin to hers. She opened her mouth and when his tongue slipped inside, the power and warmth slid down her throat and settled in her stomach.

Kera felt the groan of pleasure build in her chest before it escaped into his mouth.

Maddox swallowed the sound and growled deep in his chest. His body invaded her space and pushed her backwards until she hit the wall beside the dresser. Once he pinned her there, he broke away from her lips and kissed her nose and then her forehead. “We’ll talk, Kera. I’ll listen to what you have to say. You listen to what I have to say and we’ll talk it through.”

Her stomach growled again.

He tilted her head up for another sweet kiss before he murmured, “But first we’ll eat.”

Kera felt him step back before she let go of him. Her chest slammed into his and she pushed her face into the crease of his neck. Her lungs contracted as her emotions overwhelmed her. She breathed in his scent and tightened her arms around his waist. His hands trailed down from her hair and ran gently across her back.

“I take it our talk might go my way after all.”

“Maddox.” She breathed.

“I’m right here.”

“Maddox.” Her arms tightened further.

He wrapped his arms around her back and tightened them around her. “Right here, babe.”

Kera kissed the soft skin at the base of his neck.

Maddox sucked in a breath and tightened his arms even more. “Babe?” he murmured. “You’re hungry, but if you keep this up we won’t be eating breakfast any time soon.”

She smiled against his skin and he pulled back sharply to see it. “There you are, love.” He touched his lips to hers before he shifted her in his arms and led her to the door. He didn’t release her until they made it all the way down the hall and into the kitchen. The smell of coffee was strong. Many pots had been brewed that night. Daniel was just now pulling out breakfast foods from the refrigerator.

“Daniel,” Maddox called out. When he turned around, Maddox let Kera go and pushed her forward gently. “Kera wants to make breakfast.”

Daniel looked from Maddox to Kera before he let a smile play at his lips. “Be my guest.”

Kera panted before a breathy gasp caught in her throat. It had never been like this before. She’d never felt this before. Her legs shook as she tried to control the convulsing muscles at her thighs before they threatened to squeeze around Maddox’s neck. He licked her again and her back arched.

It had been a tense breakfast. Kera made apple and cinnamon waffles with whipped cream and maple syrup. She made ham and cheese eggs and crispy bacon to offset the sweet. She figured that the wolves could burn off the calories, and after the night they had been through, they needed it.

So many new faces came through the kitchen. Some she had seen before, and some she hadn’t. She tried to remember names by repeating each name clockwise as they filled up seats around the dining room table. When one left and another took their spot she started over. She met a few her age, in their twenties and some a little older, maybe early thirties. There weren’t many roaming about who were Daniel and Jason’s age. It seemed the age difference made the rank. Jason still had a full office. She couldn’t hear anything from that area of the house. She decided that she was going to do the same thing to Maddox’s room. She closed her eyes while more bacon sizzled in the pan and sorted through the information behind her lids. She was presented with a few options and she mulled it over after taking a bite from her plate beside the stove.

A hand wrapped around her and rested on her stomach effectively bringing her out of her thoughts. “Kera,” his warm breath pushed against her ear, “It’s time to talk.”

Kera released a shuttered breath as she swallowed her bite. “I don’t want to stop before everyone gets some.”

His low chuckle warmed her blood. “Tucker, Vance and my father will be out of the office at some point and they can’t eat the rest of this without a few more to help. There isn’t anyone else coming. You and I have things to get to.”

Her belly warmed as his hand pressed against her stomach and pulled her flush against his front. “I’ll finish this and be in your room in a minute.”

Maddox kissed her neck and released her. “Ours.” He muttered firmly before he disappeared.

The air changed as she turned the bacon without Maddox’s watchful eye. Kera glanced over to the table and saw eyes trained on her.

Daniel came up beside her and took the tongs from her hand. “You make a killer breakfast but I think I can take it from here. Maddox is waiting for you.”

She glanced around again and got approving nods from the men at the table with mouths full of food she made. Kera smiled quickly and waived as she escaped the kitchen and walked briskly to Maddox’s room. She opened the door and noticed the air was heavy with steam from the shower. Kera felt her heart jump into her throat as she tried to put her head together for talk about unpleasant things when all she wanted to do was get down to very
pleasant things in the shower with Maddox. Images from the shower they shared at the compound were burned into her brain.

She hesitated just a moment too long and the shower cut off. Maddox pulled the curtain back and she heard the cabinet open so he could get a towel to dry off. Kera sat on the bed and crossed her legs as she leaned her back against the headboard. It wasn’t the most comfortable position since her lower stomach was throbbing just thinking about Maddox being naked in the other room. After a few moments the faucet came on and the smell of mint filled the heavy air. Kera closed her eyes and took a deep breath. One thing she missed was the smell of motor oil against his natural scent. So many things had changed since she first laid eyes on Maddox Howell
. That was what she needed to focus on now.

Maddox exited the bathroom with a pair of flannel pants slung low on his hips. At her frown
, he smiled and came up beside her. “We aren’t leaving this room until everything is resolved.”

Kera craned her neck to look at him, “I want to ask your permission to put a spell on the room so we can talk in private.”

His brows drew together, “You can do that?”

“I think so.”

He sat down on the edge of the bed beside her, his hip and leg resting against hers. “Will it last long?”

After a few moments of silence where Kera closed her eyes and searched through the information she had gathered, she answered. “I could remove it when we’re done; otherwise I think it’s permanent.”

He nodded in agreement to her request and Kera went about the spell as he curled an arm around her shoulders. She murmured softly the words and pictured the room and bathroom enclosed in the spell. Once she was satisfied with the results she opened her eyes and caught Maddox watching her with a sort of curiosity that she hadn’t experienced before.

“It’s all inside your head still?”

She nodded.

“And you still want to silence it with the book?”

Kera tilted her head so she could get a clear read on his features. “Sometimes it’s hard to concentrate. It scares me that I have all of this knowledge but no real experience using it. If I start small then maybe I could learn to master it. The passage I read in the book was supposed to lead me to someone who could give me lessens. I think, since my mother said she was an elderly woman, perhaps she has passed away. The spell didn’t know what to do with the knowledge so it gave it to me all at once. I’m able to access it, ask questions and gain answers. Its how I healed you and your wolf when the spell my mother and I created around my father’s house tore you in half.”

Maddox’s eyes darkened at the memory. “You have access to your wolf again. You also have more control
.”

“Yes,” she replied openly. “I spent the time when I first arrived at the N. Division in animal form. She came out when I was afraid and I couldn’t shift back. It was strange. I pushed my thoughts to the forefront but she wouldn’t let me take back over my body. I felt us communicate. She shared her feelings and memories and I spent time sharing mine. We kind of melded with each other.”

“That’s good.” Maddox murmured. He tilted his head down and kissed her head. “Having peace with your animal is important.”

“Do you have peace again?”

He took a deep breath before he responded. “There is peace with my wolf.”

“But not with other things.” She observed. “Like being responsible for three deaths.” He tensed beside her and Kera rushed forward, “I know that you didn’t want to talk about it but we need to. I am responsible as much as you are. You were defending me.”

“I protect what is mine.” Maddox growled.

“I know. I am grateful. I don’t think there is anything wrong with it but I do know that the result is going to be hard to live with. These weren’t enemies like the Arizona Man who you had never met before. You grew up with these people. Markus, Matt and Heath were family. Family you didn’t have a problem with until me.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“It’s not yours
, either.”

Maddox was silent for a moment, “This is what you wanted to talk about?”

Kera pulled her lower lip between her teeth before she nodded.

“Ok, we’ll talk about this first. Then I have things to say.”
He met her eyes with his and the ice began to freeze out the smoke.

Kera found her courage. “You said you didn’t know how you felt about Matt and Heath.”

“That’s right.”

“Did you… do you regret it?”

Maddox took a moment beside her to weigh his response. “I regret what they chose to do. I don’t like the fact that their actions led me to end their lives. If they hadn’t touched you like
that
it would have been a different punishment. Whether you were mine or not I would have done the same thing. It isn’t right for a man to force himself on a woman. They didn’t get all the way but they got far enough. You said they took your clothes off and touched your breasts and between your legs. None of them stopped the other. I could only imagine what would have happened if Nick hadn’t got there when he did.”

“It was Andrew who came in.” Kera corrected him.

His jaw clenched. “Andrew is a different kind of evil. He not only took you so you couldn’t come back to me but he killed you. I found you just as your body was cooling with death. I have never felt that kind of loss in my life.”

“So he deserves death.” Kera whispered.

Maddox looked at her, his eyes far away, as he nodded.

“Maybe this time I could be the one to exact that revenge.”
Her heart pushed into her throat as Maddox tensed beside her. His eyes hadn’t left hers but they snapped to attention. “You wouldn’t have another life on your hands.” She explained.

Maddox’s chest rumbled as a growl formed. “He’s mine.”

“But…”

“No, Kera,” he growled. “I get Andrew, too. If you think that the punishment is affecting me because I’ve taken lives, then stop. I don’t regret taking their lives. I regret that they chose the path they were on that led them to their deaths. I regret that you had to see me do that.”

She closed her eyes as his words washed over her. She had to be heartless to agree with him, either that or a supernatural being who played by supernatural rules. Her father had taken her to church and forgiveness was taught. She trusted forgiveness. She realized that if someone repented of their sins they would be forgiven. She also knew that punishment was handled in the bible with all seriousness. She could find nothing in her heart to condemn Maddox for his choice which is why she offered herself as Andrew’s executioner.

“Babe.” Maddox whispered to draw her attention. “You with me?”

Kera nodded. “I’m with you.”

“You aren’t done talking yet.” Maddox told her.

“I’m not?”

“No.” he murmured. “Now you have to tell me what you want from this.”

“You and me?” she asked, just to be sure.

“Yeah, Kera.” He responded softly. “You and me.”

“Everything.” She whispered. “I want everything.”

Maddox tagged her around the waist and pushed her sideways so her back hit the pillows beside the headboard. He laid his body across hers and entwined their legs. “You’re going to have to be a little more specific.”

“I want everything from you, Maddox.” She took a breath of courage as she scratched the surface before she continued to dig deeper. “I want to know what you’re thinking and what you hope for. I want to know who you want to be and when you think you fall short. I want to be there for you to get through that so we can be stronger when we reach the other side. I want to know how you respond to being sick or sleepy or irritated. I never want to see you walking away from me but I’ll deal with it if I know you’ll come back to me. I want to know that you know I love you with everything in me. I want to make you happy. I want to hear you laugh like you did before breakfast. I want to be mated to you and feel the truth of it instead of just the longing for it.  You told me you wanted me to listen, Maddox, but I heard you when you said you loved me. I love you with every ounce of my body and every thought in my mind.”

When she paused for a breath, Maddox crushed his lips to hers. His hands ran across her body and pulled at the hem of her shirt. He came up to his knees, straddling her legs, and pulled her up just long enough to whisk her shirt from her chest. His hand wound around her back and freed the clasp to her bra, in seconds that was gone too. The cold air hit her for a
second before he covered her with his body and plundered her mouth. He kissed her so hard she gasped for breath by the time he let up.

Maddox freed the button of her jeans and pulled the zipper down slowly. “You need talk about anything else?” He asked distractedly as he pulled her panties down to follow her jeans.

“I’m good.” Kera breathed.

“Good,” Maddox murmured against her collar bone. He kissed the dip between her neck and her chest and made his way down the valley between her breasts. His hands came to hers and his fingers threaded between hers just before he sucked her right nipple into his mouth.

Kera arched her back and cried out. Sensation shot directly from his mouth to the hollow spot between her legs. She mumbled something about how good it felt before he moved his attention to the other breast.

His lips and mouth tasted her body in a slow torture. On a second thought, she would never call what Maddox did to her torture. That word was reserved for true pain. Maddox teased her body. He teased her relentlessly.

He made his way down her body and hooked his hands under her knees to bring them over his shoulders. Kera gasped with sudden embarrassment, but when his mouth came down on the center of her, she dug her heels into his back to press closer.

Maddox groaned against her and the vibration sent delicious shivers across her spine. Her stomach quivered and her body trembled. “You taste so sweet.” He murmured before he licked her core.

Kera panted before a breathy gasp caught in her throat. It had never been like this before. She’d never felt this before. Her legs shook as she tried to control the convulsing muscles at her thighs before they threatened to squeeze around Maddox’s neck. He licked her again and her back arched.

“Maddox,” she cried out.

He set her legs aside and his clothes hit the floor before he moved up her body in a slow crawl. “I love you, Kera.” He murmured as he covered her body with his.