Chapter 30

Ainslee

Ifelt out of place, but then again, I guess in a way I was in a whole other world. Romania, especially in these little villages, was so unlike the Highlands I called home. But this country was definitely beautiful nonetheless.

I've always felt out of place, have I not?

I moved around the room, keeping to the walls, because I felt slightly claustrophobic. I saw my father and mother. The love they had for each other was so very real.

My father, King of the Scottish Lycan Clan, had found his mate in my mother, an American vampire who'd been living in Eastern Europe since she turned eighteen over a century before. Their meeting had been nothing short of happenstance, luck of the draw, a strike of fate, or one of the many other sayings my father liked to use to describe them meeting.

It was a story I loved hearing more than once while growing up as I curled up on the massive leather couch that was in front of the roaring fire in our hunting lodge mansion. I listened to my father tell the story as he stared at his mate, the love, longing, and gratitude that he had her in his life clear on his face.

To say opposites attracted was an understatement where my parents were concerned.

It was something every supernatural—and mortal human—strived for, wasn't it? To have... love?

I glanced over at my brothers, seeing them tossing back drinks like it was water and they'd been in the desert for far too long. They were so much like my father—taking after their Lycan sides with gusto. Those wolf sides dominated their vampire halves, so all that was left were feral beasts.

But me? Neither of my sides had claimed dominance. I was neither full vampire nor Lycan. A true mix of both, a little bit from one side, a dash from the other. I was barely stronger than a mere human, because apparently my body didn't want to decide which genetic side to let dominate in utero.

I exhaled, once again frustrated with myself because I cared about any of that, when in the grand scheme of things, I should just be happy I had a loving family and centuries to look forward to.

But I do care. I care, because every male in my family looks at me as if I'll break. I'm coddled and protected. Hell, I'm surprised I was able to come to the mating ceremony at all, seeing as they think I'm some delicate freaking flower.

Once again, I scanned the room. Vampires, Lycans, demons, and even a few other creatures from the supernatural world had traveled far and wide to witness the mating ceremony. All of these creatures were either friends or allies with Ren and or the Lycans. And it was surreal to see. Because the males in my family were so protective, the only creatures of my world I'd seen were the wolves and vampires.

So this was exciting as much as it was a little terrifying.

My mother gestured me over and gave me a smile, her twin tiny fangs coming into view for a second before she curled her arm around my shoulders and pulled me in close. Her long black hair was pulled into a stylish chignon, her deep sapphire-colored gown complementing her pale flesh and light-blue eyes.

"Ah, there's my wee lass. Come here, darling daughter." My father, a massive Lycan with broad shoulders and a mammoth frame, towered over many of the guests at the mating ceremony. But then again, not many creatures were as big and fearsome as a Lycan, or a king for that matter. And my father was both.

I smiled up at him, and he leaned down to kiss me on top of the head. Never mind that I was twenty years old—an adult in human standards—because in Lycan standards, my father still saw me as his little girl, so very young when you looked at the lifespan of a paranormal creature.

"Yer mother and I will be leaving this time tomorrow night."

My father had bought a private jet for my mother for obvious reasons: sunlight was a no-go for vampires, as was commercial airlines being far too dangerous. Then there was also the fact that he just liked to dote on her, giving her presents, buying her things because he liked to see the smile on her face, but he also loved—probably more so—the goodhearted annoyance of her telling him to quit buying her things.

"Mayhap we'll stop up north on the way home, let ye see the Northern Lights?" He grinned broadly, knowing I loved seeing those beautiful lights, and even though I could tolerate some sunlight, I preferred to keep the same hours as my mother and father—which was being pretty much nocturnal.

"They'll bitch," I grumbled as I tipped my chin in the direction of my three brothers. The triplets were as rowdy as you'd come to expect Lycan males to be, but then again, they fit right in with the clan. I was more the oddball out.

"Ach, those little shites are all too ready tae make their baby sister happy."

I shook my head but smiled. Yeah, they were the best, even if I gave them a hard time for being so damn overbearing and protective.

My father started speaking with another clan member, and I scanned the room. Crystal glasses with blood were filled for the vampires. Dark-colored whiskey or bourbon for the other guests. There was a massive banquet table with every kind of food imaginable.

I reached out and grabbed a glass of champagne from a passing waiter, smiled, and said thank you, then brought the glass to my mouth to take a sip of the sweet, bubbly liquid. Although it wasn't as sweet as blood and didn't give me the euphoric high the life-giving liquid did, it would still do the job well enough.

I finished nearly the whole glass—feeling the effects of the alcohol move through me pleasurably—when I felt this shift in the massive hall. The air seemed to get colder, and as if in unison, everyone turned and faced the wide entrance of the great hall.

They were looking at someone.

I was small, not just for a female, but also for a supernatural creature, so there was no way I could see over the towering males or the svelte, tall females.

I inhaled deeply, sifting through all the scents in the room and trying to focus on whatever was at that entrance. It took work; the scents were many and thick, perfumes and foods, but then I locked on it.

I felt this jolt move through me at the scent. And once it filled my nose and head, I could smell nothing else.

A Lycan male was who everyone was looking at, yet I still couldn't see him. I shivered, not understanding why I suddenly felt so hot and cold.

"Is that Luca Lupineov?" my mother whispered to my father, sidling closer to him. He wrapped one arm around my mother's waist, and as if he wanted to keep the females close, he did the same to me, bringing me protectively to his side.

I noticed my brothers pushed their way toward us, their looks dark, dangerous. They scanned their eyes over my mother and me, protective of us just as our father was. Then again, this was how all supernatural males were when it concerned females they cared about.

I glanced around the room, taking note males did the same with their mates and daughters, brothers seeming to instinctively want to protect their sisters and mothers.

"Aye," my father answered, and I felt his hand tighten on my shoulder. "A Lycan gone mad is one of the most dangerous creatures alive."

And then bodies started to part as the male was clearly moving into the great hall. I still couldn't see him and tried to rise on my toes to get a better look. I saw a flash of dark, short hair, a set of wide, powerful shoulders. The male straightened, and I gasped at how big and tall he was, towering over even my father, who by all accounts was one of the biggest males in this room.

Lord, that male had to be easily six-foot eight. And the power in his body, the stacks of muscles, was staggering. But there was something else, something about him that had my skin tightening and this strange feeling moving within me. I felt my father stiffen and glanced up at him. He was looking at me with his brows drawn.

"Lass, are ye okay?"

I cleared my throat and tried to calm my heart—which of course only made things worse. "I'm fine." I hoped my smile was convincing. But my father still watched me for long seconds until movement up ahead drew his attention.

I exhaled and heard low murmurs.

It was his… the Lycan male's, Luca's voice.

I actually closed my eyes and would have swayed from the sound if not for the fact that my father held onto me.

Luca was congratulating his brother Ren on his mating, and his deep, husky, and accented voice did warm things to me.

But why?

I'd heard about Luca Lupineov, the Lycan shifter who'd slowly lost his mind because he hadn't found his mate. I knew it happened on occasion, centuries passing for our kind in the paranormal world making life tedious and hope fading.

More beast than male, I heard him being called. Hell, the rumors of Luca had reached all the way to the Highlands.

The murmurs in the room were low but great, and I sensed he was leaving. The bodies parted once again, and there I finally saw him, his back to me, twenty feet separating us and growing more as he exited.

And yeah, he was even more massive and imposing than any other male in this room.

He really is more animal than male.

"Luca," I said his name so low I knew only I'd have heard. I didn"t even know why I said his name, to be honest. It just slipped from my lips as if it were a plea.

But then he stilled. His huge body freezing, his hands curling into themselves as he snapped his head up. I swore I heard him inhale, felt my eyes widen as the room seemed to grow even colder. Everyone was at a standstill at whatever was happening. Would he lose control and kill someone? Was his mind so deteriorated that we were all in danger?

My father was in the process of pulling my mother and me behind him, my brothers coming forward to make a wall, blocking us from Luca. But the big Lycan spun around, his glowing animal-like blue eyes swinging back and forth as he scanned the hall. And then our eyes locked, gazes clashing.

"You," he growled, his lips peeling back from his teeth, his canines growing as he stared right in my eyes. "My mate," he all but purred, but it sounded so very wolf-like.

I sensed every male in the room going to protect the females. My brothers were making a barricade around me, but I kept trying to see through the openings their big bodies made, as if I couldn't drag my gaze from the huge Lycan. God, he really was more animal than man, his body seeming to grow even bigger as his beast pushed forward.

My brothers' bodies seemed to grow as well.

"Oh, feck no," Caelan ground out.

"No fecking way some crazy-ass Lycan is getting tae her," Tavish seethed.

"I've been itching for a fight, and what better one than tae go toe-tae-toe with that crazy motherfecker?" I could hear the glee in Lenox's voice.

"Watch yerselves, sons," my father growled. "Our priority is getting yer mother and yer sister out."

I glanced over my shoulder and looked into my father's face. He was staring at me, his eyes flashing blue from his wolf.

"Because that Lycan won't stop until he gets tae his prize."

Me.

Yeah, my father meant me.

I started shaking.

"Tis okay, lass. We will no' let him get tae ye."

I didn't want to tell my father I didn't shiver from fear but from… anticipation.

I snapped my focus back to Luca. He still looked at me, and I knew he hadn't taken his gaze off me at all. His grin widened. God, his incisors were so big and white… so long and sharp.

As he watched my father and brothers take a protective stance, he chuckled low, deep, the sound distorted because of his beast. That laugh told me one thing—nothing would keep him from getting to me, not even four full-grown Lycans, or hell, a roomful of dangerous males.

Luca lifted his hand, his finger pointing to me. "Female." My heart was thundering in my chest. "You. Are. Mine."

And that"s when all hell broke loose.