Chapter 14

Chapter

Fourteen

E nsuring that Renata would be fine on her own in the shower, he headed out to the barn. He probably shouldn't have knotted and tied her that second time… hell if she'd been doing without, which he guessed was the case, he probably shouldn't have done it the first time, but he'd wanted to claim her in as many ways as possible.

"Alright, you lazy sonsofbitches…"

"Shit, Bran, did she get away already?" asked Dario, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

He laughed. "No, quite the contrary. My beautiful mate is happily marked and claimed but thought we ought to feed you two and let you get back to your lives."

"Doesn't diminish the threat of the Inverness Pack," said Gianni.

"Oh, but it does. I want to tell my parents myself, but turns out my gorgeous, intelligent, brave mate is also, and I quote, a ‘kick-ass sorceress.'"

"Holy shit. That is wicked cool!" said Gianni. "Do you need us to come back for you or can she just zap you home?"

Bran laughed. "I kind of doubt it, but I actually don't know the answer to that. In any event, come into the house. You can meet Renata, have something to eat, and then head out. We'll stay here a few days and then meet you at Ravenscar."

Dario and Gianni had been dumbstruck by Renata. They'd seen a few pictures Bran had of her from their time in Israel, but those hadn't done her justice. Bran was proud to show his friends that Renata's beauty was far more than skin-deep. She was also incredibly kind and exuded a serenity that had always called to him.

The four of them walked to the amphibious plane docked on the loch. Bran and Renata waved as his friends taxied into open water and took off. They fed the livestock and headed back into the house. Grabbing her hand, Bran dragged her over to the comfortable wing-back chair, pulled her leggings down, and tossed her over his lap.

"I owe you at least ten for the hell you put us both through."

Renata laughed, and he knew he wouldn't need to spank her through any residual guilt she was feeling, but that didn't stop him from raining his discipline down on her gorgeous ass. God, he'd missed her ass. And like it or not, he meant to claim that within short order as well.

Afterward he spanked her firmly exactly ten times, Bran proved just how much he'd missed her, and Renata happily atoned for having left him in the first place.

F our Hours North

Of London, England

It still had a bitter taste in its mouth from the deadly silver bullets. The poisonous ammunition had proved less tolerable than other forms of weaponry. The toxicity was most disagreeable and had forced it to flee the wolf hybrid body it had claimed.

Once again those who had thwarted its plans in America had interfered. It found this new day and age where humans and hybrids crossed the great sea as easily as it did, to be inconvenient.

It had hoped to keep the last host for far longer. It had been a weak-willed, cowardly but amenable wolf-shifter who had enjoyed the gifts that it had bestowed on its host. In that host, it had been able to shift between human and wolf and that had been very beneficial.

Being forced to flee had meant it couldn't be as selective about a new host as it preferred to be. A truck loaded with items had been leaving the estate and it decided to possess the driver, who had headed north out of London. The unplanned escape and taking of a new host left it hungry and it fed sparingly on the new host, planning to force it to feed when it had taken complete control.

It did not like the cacophony of noise from the traffic on the highway. It was still trying to shed the poisonous effects of the silver bullets, so it put itself in a semi-dormant state. A sudden loud pop followed by a mechanical squeal and the loud cursing of the host brought it back to a fully conscious state. All around them other vehicles careened and crashed into each other, and the truck was banged on both sides before it skidded to a stop.

There was a moment of silence, then several explosions caused vehicles to go up in flames. The host was trapped. Others were coming to help. It did not have the power to leave this host and take another unless it sucked out his lifeforce and a new host was in close proximity. The current host screamed as the floorboard began to disintegrate and flames leapt up through the holes.

It was going to be burned alive. Once before it had narrowly escaped that fate when a host had been tied to a stake, accused of witchcraft. Of course, the host hadn't been a sorceress or even a witch. It would never entertain taking one to feed from. They were perceptive and almost impossible to possess completely. If they were practitioners of white magick, they would fight possession, eventually casting it off. If they worked in black magick, they would absorb its power and wield it for themselves.

It sensed someone coming closer, calling for the host to remain calm and they would get him out. It consumed the host completely, leaving nothing more than a desiccated shell as it had with one in San Francisco. As soon as the new host was close, it jumped, mingling with the dark smoke of the fire, hiding within it as it entered its new host.

It forced the new host to roll the canister in its hand behind the back wheel of the lorry and allow the fire to burn out of control, destroying evidence of the state of its consumed host. The authorities might figure out there was something odd about it, but their state-of-the-art machines and tests would never comprehend its power.

The new host was a tourist, apparently one who was soon to head back to America, to Galveston, Texas to be precise. This could prove opportune. It had hoped to stay in England longer, but the journey back would give it time to fully recover. It had experienced too many possessions in too short a time, but that couldn't be helped. It would rest now, feeding and gaining knowledge and power to face those it considered its mortal enemies.

It would have its vengeance against the descendants of its mortal enemies—Marie Laveau, Jean Lafitte, and the dire wolf.

L och Langavat

Outer Hebrides, Scotland

"Bran," she said, sitting up in bed.

"Renata, what's the matter?"

"Wolves."

They rolled out of bed, Bran pulling on his jeans and boots first. "You stay inside. When they get into the barnyard, hit the floodlights."

"It's not just a single wolf. You can't take them on alone."

"Renata, you will stay inside until I call for you. Then you join me. We're going to try this the civilized wolf way."

"That would be where you rip their throats out?"

He turned and looked at her. "Precisely. I mean it, Renata. You stay put."

Bran grabbed the shotgun that hung over the fireplace in their bedroom. It wasn't new, but it was sturdy and hung where they could get it. If they were going to spend time up here, he wanted a handgun as well. Leaving the light off in the cottage, he opened the door and slipped out into the night, grinning.

Poor Renata, she'd lost their bet. He'd bet her the Inverness Pack was coming and she'd maintained her mother and aunt had dealt with them. But he knew that pack. They needed two things—she-wolves and money, and Renata had both. He felt as though he should buy whoever it was a drink. They'd bet on anal sex—if he won, he could have it whenever he wanted; if she won, then it was off the table for a year. His cock tightened. Down boy. We have to get rid of them first.

He moved away from the front door and into the shadows. Bran could hear murmurs and rumbles. He couldn't discern any of their words, but he could feel the longing and lust coming off of them in waves. The floodlights came on and the intruders were blinded momentarily.

"That's far enough. I am Branson Norris of Ravenscar. My father rules there and you are invading our territory," he called to them as he moved further to the right to another position. He wanted to move all the way around them to ensure they didn't have any outliers, but he was willing to bet they didn't.

"Ravenscar doesn't rule here. This she-wolf is ours. We have claimed her with the Ruling Council."

"My claiming mark on her neck supersedes your less-than-honorable claim."

"You can't claim one of our she-wolves."

"He already did," called Renata from inside the farmhouse.

"Inverness has never called the Hebrides part of their territory, and if you did, you did a shitty job protecting your she-wolf. I came in without any trouble and she offered me her throat."

"We'll haul you before the Ruling Council."

"For what? Claiming my fated mate in an unclaimed territory? You might want to think about that. Renata, blast one of these mutts and show ‘em what a sorceress can do."

The word ‘sorceress' provoked frightened murmurs from the group. Renata stepped out of the house. He had to hand it to his mate, she knew how to make an entrance. The sheer, nude shift that she had on didn't leave a lot to the imagination, but it sure as hell did a good job of catching their attention. She raised her hands and pushed a massive wave of magickal energy at the group, knocking the whole lot of them on their asses. The five wolves scrambled to their feet.

"That's pretty good, baby. Any of you mongrels think you can take her on?" asked Branson, completing his circuit of the intruders, coming to stand beside her to lean down and kiss her.

"Do I get to kill one of them, Sir? You said last time I could kill anyone who bothered us."

"No, sweetheart. If they leave and don't come back, we should let them live."

"But you were getting ready to knot me," she purred, rubbing her body along his side.

If they managed to catch her scent on the wind, that group of hyenas would believe her. Renata was ripe and ready for plundering. He would need to have a little discussion with her about that. He was sure her magick could provide them with some protection, but he wasn't about to trust their safety completely to it if they were vulnerable in a tie. He could see her scent was getting to them.

"I know," said Bran. "But we talked about this. It's not nice to remind a group of half-assed wankers that they will never know the exquisite carnality involved in knotting their fated mate."

"Oh, that's right. Only strong alpha males have that ability. I feel sorry for you," she said to the group. "But sorrier for the she-wolves who have to put up with you."

"Go back inside, sweetheart. I'll be along shortly."

Without a word, Renata reached her hands over her head and murmured something. Suddenly lightning lit up the sky and thunder rolled across the hills. Rain began to fall… only on the small intruding pack.

"No wonder the farm is so green," he said, laughing heartily.

Renata shrugged her shoulders, stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek, and sashayed—there was no other word for it—back into the cottage. In the doorway, she raised her hand above her head and snapped her fingers. As quickly as the localized squall had erupted, it was silenced.

"The thing is, fellas, you couldn't handle her. She doesn't even need me to protect her. You want to claim the rest of the Hebrides, do it. You can have all of it but this farm. But if you try to declare this home to be your territory, be aware my mate and I will be watching. If you abuse the land or its people, I will bring an army from Ravenscar with my mate at its head and we will destroy you and claim Inverness as our northern territory. The only one who might object is Gordon McDonald, and he's an old friend of my father. Come to think of it, my baby brother could use a small territory of his own so be careful how you proceed. And the next time you go to do anything other than pay homage to my lady or my pack, I'll turn her loose on you."

They turned tail and ran, shifting as they did so to get as far away from the farm as quickly as possible.

"You put on quite a show," he said with amusement as he walked back into the house.

"I know I went a bit over the top, but I do think we got their attention. Do you think we should take over their pack?" Renata asked.

Bran admired her enthusiasm, it was just another thing about her for him to love. "I've heard worse ideas. I worry about how their she-wolves are being treated. I think we should talk to my family about it. We might want to do a little snooping around. By the way, boosting the scent of your arousal like that was just mean."

She pulled the sheer shift over her head and dropped it on the floor.

"I don't know how to tell you this, mate, but I did nothing to enhance my scent," she purred. "That's just my normal reaction to seeing you without a shirt on and sporting a very promising bulge in the front of your pants. I suppose you're going to make me wait till morning to get knotted."

He laughed. "For a she-wolf who once ran like hell at the very idea, you sure have become enamored of it."

"What can I tell you? I was a very uneducated she-wolf and I'm trying to make up for lost time."