Chapter 13

Chapter

Thirteen

R enata wasn't sure when he'd withdrawn from her the first time. She only vaguely remembered waking up some time during the night as he pulled her back underneath him and knotted her a second time. The pain of the breach wasn't lessened by knowing the intense carnal pleasure he was about to bestow on her, but it did make enduring that brief shattering moment of agony worth it. After he had rolled to his back and she was lying on top of him, she'd managed to stay awake for a while and they'd watched the Northern Lights dancing their way across the night sky.

The next time she had stirred it was still dark outside, but she'd only made a token protest as he kissed her and left their bed. She must have dozed because the next thing she remembered were the tantalizing aromas coming from her kitchen. She'd forgotten that Branson liked to cook and was good at it. She smiled. Shakshuka. They had eaten that more than once when they'd been together in Israel. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she winced and moaned.

"Sonofabitch," she muttered.

"One and only warning, the rules we had in Israel are back in place," Bran called from the kitchen. "Watch your mouth and you stay where I leave you," he said with more edge to his voice than she thought she deserved.

"I was going to grab your shirt and join you. But trust me, after last night, I'm more than happy to have you wait on me hand and foot."

"Poor baby, I almost feel sorry for you," Bran said as he came into the bedroom carrying a tray. "Almost. I am far from done with you this night, but if you play your cards right and behave yourself, I might be talked out of welting your backside for keeping us apart so long."

She laughed. She couldn't help it. When she was with Branson there was a light and a joy in her life that wasn't there without him. She put her hand to her neck and felt something strange on her throat—a bandage.

"I cleaned the wound and put a salve on it that I found in your bath," he said, waiting for her to get back into bed before joining her.

One plate, one fork. Nothing new there. They'd eaten most of their meals when they were alone in bed together or with Renata sitting in his lap. In either case, he would feed them both. She felt very loved and spoiled, like always, but the place beneath the dressing on her neck hurt.

"You bit me."

"I marked you. It'll leave a scar, and no other male wolf will come near you."

"I might have a salve that could minimize it."

"I'd only mark you again. Male alpha wolves are possessive and territorial as all get out."

"I remember. You scared that poor kid from Scarsdale nearly to death. I swear he left the dig because he was afraid you were going to eat him."

"He left because he was a lazy little sonofabitch who thought he'd earn some easy extra credit. And for the record, the only one I want to eat is you."

Renata felt a blush staining her cheeks. He could say the dirtiest things and make them sound like the most loving words ever. He got into bed next to her and settled her against him.

"Your larder is almost empty," he scolded.

"I knew I was going to be away, and I wasn't expecting the big bad wolf to come calling."

"That's the first lie. If you don't correct it, there'll be discipline. And I suggest you don't do it again." She arched her eyebrow at him as he fed her the first bite. So good. "You knew if I saw any of those pictures I'd come after you." He paused as he took a bite. "Why did you do it? What did I do? Why didn't you let me..."

She silenced him by placing three fingers against his mouth. "You did nothing wrong. Nothing. I got scared. Terrified, really. I hadn't told you everything about my past."

"I knew that. I just figured in time you'd tell me."

"For the record, you should have pushed."

"Noted," he said with a smile and a kiss to her nose.

The man was the quintessential happily sated warrior and wolf. She prayed to whatever gods and powers that controlled the universe that the next few moments wouldn't destroy that.

"By the time I was ready, or rather needed to tell you, it had gotten so big that I feared you'd throw me out and reject me completely."

"That's an additional five to however many I decide you owe me for running away."

"You can't spank me for that!"

"Want to bet? Would you like me to do it now or wait until we see if your explanation can mitigate the punishment you're due? And the extra five is for questioning my feelings for you. Make that ten—five for Israel and five for just now."

Renata tried to suppress a smile, but the corners of her mouth lifted. She knew him so well. He was trying to relax her. She could feel the quiet way he rumbled to her, trying to lessen her tension. He was also smart enough to know that spanking her would alleviate some of her guilt and arouse her. And there was the added fact that she knew he liked to see her ass turn red.

"You're making this up, so you have an excuse to spank me," she teased.

"Me alpha, you she-wolf. I don't need an excuse to spank you. Keep that in mind." He pulled her close and kissed her. "Tell me. Let me help carry whatever burden it is that you seem so determined to bear alone."

God, she'd hurt him so much worse than she'd realized. If they made it through the next few minutes, she promised herself she would never hurt him again. She tried to put some space between them, but he pulled her close again, growling quietly.

"I am so sorry I hurt you. I'm so sorry that I didn't trust you, trust us. I'm sure you figured out my mother and aunt weren't happy that I'd been born a wolf-shifter. I honestly don't know that she would have carried the pregnancy to term if she'd known."

"Your mother was turned without her consent?" he asked gently.

"Yes. How did you know?"

"You're about the right age. There was a time when the birthrate for she-wolves had dwindled to almost none. It has always been a well-honored tradition to turn human females, but with their consent. My Uncle Marco turned my Aunt Catherine."

"You mother's sister was human? No, wait—then that means your mother was human."

He nodded his head. "Like your mother, mine was kidnapped off the streets in Florence and turned by a monster named DeMoncada. He was trafficking in she-wolves."

"Mariah's mother helped bring him down," said Renata.

"Along with the help of seven other extraordinary she-wolves—Skylar Grainger, Darby Gautier, Maddie Owen..."

"The romance writer? Doesn't she have a daughter who writes as well? I love their stuff."

"Yes, that's right. Brianna. The remaining she-wolves were Ava Collins, my Aunt Catherine, and my mother."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I could tell you weren't all that comfortable embracing your wolf side. I would have told you eventually, or my mother would have. She takes great delight in having been turned and enduring a year as his captive. And she was there when they thought he was killed."

"He isn't dead? My mother thought…"

"Don't worry, sweetheart, he is now. You met Skylar Nichols, right?" Renata nodded. "Her father Jean-Michel Gautier tracked him down and beheaded him." Branson chuckled. "To prove that DeMoncada had eluded all of them, he sent DeMoncada's head to the Ruling Council. The pirate likes to make a point."

"Pirate?"

"Yes, he's a direct descendant of Jean Lafitte. He and my father are fast friends. I understand more than most what it must have done to your mother, but no one in wolfen society would have looked down on you, or her, because of it."

"I'm starting to figure that out. My mother saw a chance to escape and took it. She never looked back; never tried to find out what happened to the others."

"She had more than enough on her plate. She had to have known that either those attacking the stronghold would liberate the women there or not. Nothing she could do would have changed that," he said stroking her hair. "Do you know who sired you?"

Renata shook her head, luxuriating in the way he held her, stroking and soothing her in a way no one else ever had.

"It doesn't matter," he continued, "but if you ever want to find out, DeMoncada kept records. My mother and my oldest sister have been working to bring closure and justice to his victims and their children."

"I remember you said you had a large family."

"Okay, this might make you run, but I have one younger brother and six younger sisters. So I hope you hated being an only child."

"Having a big family sounds nice," Renata said. She smiled, but only for a moment before sadness showed on her face again.

"So that's why you ran?" Bran asked. "Because of what had happened to your mother?"

"I didn't think or rather I thought too much about it. And the whole I'm a product of a brutal rape was just the proverbial cherry on top. For obvious reasons, my aunt and mother weren't kindly disposed toward our kind. I remember some guy from Inverness came once to talk with my mother, she and my aunt sent him packing."

"He didn't come back with reinforcements? For some packs, your mother would have been a prize. A turned she-wolf who had produced a daughter."

"No, he never came again, although it does explain a few things."

"Like what?"

"Like why they cast protection spells every night."

She waited, watching his face, to allow the words to sink in.

"Spells? As in, your mother and aunt were witches?"

"Sorceresses, and powerful ones at that. Only after their coven found out about my mother's time with DeMoncada were they cast out."

"Yeah, magickal folk and wolves—there's bad blood there. But did you think I'd judge you?"

"That was my fear. You made some disparaging and ignorant remarks about magick wielders."

"Sweetheart, I am so sorry. I never would have said anything unkind about sorceresses or magick if I'd known. Nothing you could be, do, or say would ever lessen the depth of my feelings for you." He took her face in his hands, staring intently into her eyes. "Let me be clear, my beautiful mate, I love you with every fiber of my being. I have claimed you as mine and I will never let you go. And if you manage to escape again, I'll find you. I will always find you and then I will beat your ass red and knot and tie you."

She laughed, her greatest fear vanishing in the face of his declaration. "I love you too. I don't know that I knew quite how much until I realized you were still waiting for me."

"Did you know I was here?" he asked. She nodded. "And you didn't try to run?"

"No. I decided on the train ride home, I was done running. I might even have worked up the courage to try and find you."

"None of that matters. We're together, right? I know we have things to work out, but I won't have to worry about coming home and not finding you, right?"

She nodded. "Right. If I ever go missing again, call out the troops because something big and evil and powerful has taken me against my will and that'll take some doing. My mother and my aunt made sure I could stand on my own if anyone tried to come for me."

Bran's face softened. "So tell me, just how did you get away from me at the airport?"

"I cast an invisibility spell and walked right past you. It was the hardest thing I'd ever done."

He wrapped her in his arms and held her close, rumbling softly to her until she relaxed into him.

"Don't you protect your home?"

"Yes, but sorceresses like me have a fatal flaw—we cannot harm our soul mate."

"I didn't see you at the airport, though, so the spell worked."

"The spell wasn't designed to harm you. That burst you felt from me? If I'd done that to anyone else, it would have put them through a wall. I just didn't like that alpha wave you shot at me."

He grinned. "Yeah my mum gets pissed at my father when he does it to her. She and my Aunt Catherine throw pottery in retaliation."

"Hmm… That might work."

"What might work?"

"I wouldn't be able to use magick to hurt you directly, but I might be able to throw pottery at you because the spell would be on what I'm throwing, not you."

"I've got news for you. The first time you hurl something at me—magick or otherwise, you'll get spanked."

"I suppose there's comfort in knowing some things never change," she said laughing, feeling as though things might actually be falling back into the place they were always supposed to have been.

"In that case, let me go tell Gianni and Dario they're good to go."

"Who are they?"

"Pack members my father sent. We were worried about the Inverness Pack. They've already told the Ruling Council that they are claiming you for themselves."

"They can't do that!" Renata was indignant. She had the right to go where and with whom she chose. And she was choosing Bran.

"They could have, but now you are marked and claimed. You are Ravenscar. Anyone disputing that will have to deal with me. My father wanted me to be able to focus on claiming you without us having to worry about our safety. But if you can cast some kind of spell on the cottage so that no one can get to us, I can send my friends home."

Renata stood and put her hands on her hips. "For the record? Anyone makes a run at either of us, they can deal with the big bad alpha wolf and his kick-ass sorceress she-wolf mate."