Filed to story: The Rise Of The Lycan Queen
“Put her on the ground.” Rose ran into the room with her bowl. She grabbed a dagger from the counter and scrambled the rest of the way to me. “You’re almost too late.” She dropped to her knees and reached for my hand. “You have to pay the price, or the spell won’t work.”
“Get that away from her. What the hell?” Mason’s voice was laced with warning.
“Each spell requires a sacrifice.” The witch ignored him as her eyes stayed on mine. “I’m sorry.”
“Do … it ….” The vampires couldn’t be worse than my uncle.
She nodded as she reached over and picked up my hand.
“What the hell. Do not cut her.” Mason’s voice was more rasp than tone at this point.
“It’s not your decision,” Rose spoke harshly as she pierced my finger and took a drop of my blood.
My wolf roared more in desperation. She knew what was going to happen.
Rose touched my hand and mouthed the words of the spell.
Magic swirled inside me and slammed my wolf back inside her cage. As soon as her spell was completed, she ran to the back room with my blood.
I took a deep breath and relished the fact that the internal struggle was gone.
“She was close to breaking free.” She appeared from the back room and raised an eyebrow. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” My voice was barely a whisper. The fight between me and my wolf had been tiring. I was exhausted, and it took every ounce of strength to get up from the floor. “But we need to talk.”
“I’d have to agree with that statement.” Mason leaned against the cash register, staring at me as I remained sitting on the ground.
“Hey, I tried.” I wasn’t going to take any of his shit over this. I had already decided to come clean before we kissed. He was the one who was going to take the fall on that one. “Don’t get mad and grumbly on me. We can talk when we get home.” My eyes settled on Rose. “I want to know what you’re using my blood for.”
“That’s none of your concern.” She lifted her head and shook it at me. “That breaks our arrangement.”
If she thought that was going to work, the bitch had another thing coming.
“That all changed when a fucking vampire recognized my scent.” If she thought she could play the innocent card, I knew I’d have to call her bluff now. I only hoped that Mason would stay quiet and ask questions after we left.
“Are you talking about the one I fought tonight?” Mason tilted his head as he processed my words.
“Yeah.” I didn’t turn my gaze on him. Rather, I kept my eyes on her. “I’m assuming you’ve got something to do with that.”
“What? That shouldn’t be possible.” She placed her hand on her chest where her heart beat. “I’ve been diluting your blood and everything.”
Mason growled as he crossed his arms.
“Obviously not enough.” That had to be why that vampire at work had been stalking me. “Between him and the vampire that keeps visiting my work, I’d say more than one has already figured it out.”
“Only a very strong alpha’s blood would allow a vampire to distinguish the scent of the blood the way the we’ve been using it.” She pursed her lips and tapped her foot. “Which is impossible in your case seeing as you’ve never shifted.”
A quick intake of breath told me that Mason was piecing it all together. “It doesn’t matter if it should be possible or not.” He pushed off the counter and moved to stand beside me. “The fact is they are.”
“You do realize he’s going to cause you to have more of a struggle, right?” Rose arched her eyebrow so high it hid under her bangs. “First off, he has a strong wolf; and second, your two wolves are mates. Your wolf is going to want to come out.”
“Do you not think I realize that?” I had been desperate to get here. “The bond is forcing itself on us.”
“Have you two been fighting it?” Rose’s eyes landed on Mason. “I’m a little jealous that he’s yours.”
“Focus on those last two words you just said, and stop fucking with us.” He wrapped his arm around me. “You better stop using her blood. If something happens to her, there’s no telling what could happen to you.”
This wasn’t good. Why was he protecting me? He should be disgusted and not want to be near me. I needed him to realize the truth and walk away because I didn’t have the strength to fight it any longer. I was too weak and tired.
“Are you really threatening me right now?” Rose closed her eyes and shook her head. “After I just helped her.”
“I’m not sure that you are helping her if she has vampires hunting her down.” Mason’s fingers dug into my hip a little.
“And I just gave you more blood.” Mona and Kassie had been right. I should’ve never trusted the hag. Maybe the price was too high. “What are you going to do with it now that you know?”
“We still need it.” She huffed and straightened her shoulders. “Those vampires are attacking our covens.”
“What for?” I deserved to know now.
“That is official coven business and not something that I can openly discuss with you.” She huffed and tapped her foot on the ground. “But you’ve saved so many lives.”
“That’s great to know.” At this point, why did it matter whether she used my blood again? They were already targeting me. “All right, we’ve gotta get back before people start worrying about us.”
“I’m more than ready.” There was an edge to Mason’s tone.
He was pissed, and I understood.
“You have my number if you need me.” She grinned and motioned toward the door. “I’ll lock up after you.”
Mason took my hand and almost ran to the door. Granted, he had a good five inches on my five-foot-ten-inch self.
Once we took a step outside, I had expected him to drop my hand, but he didn’t. However, we walked in silence straight to his car. He opened the door for me and shut it, climbing inside the car within seconds.
I’d expected a ton of questions, but he remained silent as he drove, heading to God-knew-where. I wanted to ask where, but I was afraid to be the one to speak first. Not that I was scared of him, but I was, instead, terrified of his reaction.
We pulled into a section of town I’d never been to. We turned on a gravel road, and he continued on until we reached a small lake.
He stopped his car and got out.
Needing to figure out his thoughts, I opened the door and climbed out before he could reach my side.
He must have heard because he headed the five feet to the lake.
I followed behind him and stopped a few inches shy of him. I needed him to be the one who broke the silence.
A breeze picked up, blowing a few pieces of hair behind my shoulders. There was a little bit of a chill in the air now that we were getting to the end of September.
“It’s strange.” He kept his head facing forward, staring off at the lake. “I’m not sure whether I should feel pissed, relieved, or indifferent.”
