Page 33 of The Dark War

Feeling the full weight of her body now leaning into me, I wrapped my arms around her, licking my fingers while her head lulled into my neck.

I could see wonderful dark hickies strung all over her neck in my peripheral. No one would touch her. She was mine; she bared my temporary mark, my scent. Nipping her shoulder, she shivered, humming in contentment.

“Did I satisfy my mate?” Xander came to the surface, pushing me to the side. “Did Jasper and I provide for you?” Xander isn’t one to please other people, the selfish prick. This time, he really wanted the approval of Taliyah, the only one that was made for us.

“Yes, Xander,” Taliyah whispered, her heated breath tickling my now sweaty back. “I’m very pleased.” She softened her laugh and had Xander purring. “I’m sorry I’ve been staying away from you.”

Xander growled, his disapproval of our mate’s words getting under his fur. “We deserved it.” He hummed. “I don’t want anyone to steal you from us.” The whine had Taliyah’s body stiffen. I placed her delicately on the desk, Xander still wanting to speak to her.

Cupping our face, she rubbed her nose against ours, her tits trickling down my chest. “I won’t go anywhere; just stop giving Jasper a hard time.” Her eyes narrowed into Xander’s. “I mean it.” Fuck, she was hot when she was bossy.

“I… I haven’t…” He trailed. Taliyah only squinted her eyes, raising a finger to tap our nose. “Xander,” she scolded. He retreated back into my mind, and my body fully returned to me. Pecking her lips, she hummed playfully, pressing her tits to my chest.

Fuuuuuuck.

“Let me run you a bath.” I grabbed a decorative blanket that hung over her white couch and pulled it around her shoulders. I didn’t need any of the help seeing a naked queen being carried around. Wrapping her up in a soft burrito, she giggled, trying to get out of my hold.

“Nope, I’m carrying you.” Kissing her forehead, I walked up the stairs, albeit a bit weirdly since my belt was gone and my jeans now sat very loosely around my hips. Trying to keep my pants up was difficult, but luckily my muscular thighs wouldn’t allow them to go much lower.

After getting my mate ready for bed, I tucked her inside the covers, pulling her toward me. My raging blue balls would have to wait until she fell asleep so I could take care of that problem. The soft silk of her nightgown rubbed against my body, causing me to shiver when her nipples strained against it.

“How is Clara?” Taliyah had already closed her eyes, her nose into my neck. I try not to bring up Clara since it was such a sore spot for her, yet she surprises me with this question.

“She’s fine.” I tightened my hold on Taliyah. “She’s been trying to balance her luna, future queen duties, and dealing with Evelyn.” When I found Kane staring at the burning ruins of the rogue witch coven, his face was worse for wear. His eyes were sunken in, and his heart’s heaviness wore him down.

Clara was having difficulty balancing it all, and who could blame her? She was a fucking waitress a little over seven months ago. Now she was a werewolf, princess, luna, mother, and now dealing with a damn uprising of rogues, mostly from Vermillion. She had a lot of shit going on. I guess you could also include trying to keep Kane calm as one of her jobs too.

That was a full-time job right there.

Clara was thrown into a messy world, and she wanted to help everyone. Her decision to stay back and take care of Evelyn instead of accompanying Kane with a lead on who might be in charge of the black magic broke her. Kane ended up fighting in an enormous battle with Osirus over some rogues, and Clara felt every hit, cut, and tear of his skin. It worried her to death because she couldn’t mind-link, and she ended up running halfway to the battle until the spells had broken for her to speak with him.

Kane mind-linked me later, telling me she had broken down crying in the middle of the forest. The magic had been too much, the bond was stretched thin, but they made it. They made it back to the pack house to have her recover.

“She’s having trouble, but she will be fine,” I explained to my mate. She obviously was not. “I have hope for her. Goddess Charis gave her many gifts to help her. She’ll do great things,” I mumbled. Taliyah’s eyelashes fluttered on my chest. Rubbing her arm tenderly, her head looked up at me.

“She and Kane have done a lot for us. I don’t know how to ever repay them.” She hummed. “Maybe we should have them come visit, see what we have done so far with the help they have sent us with the blood bags and the funds.” Petting Taliyah’s head, I purred, causing her body to completely go limp. My mate was tired.

“We made her tired.” Xander growled playfully.

“As much as I would love for them to see what we have done so far, they must go to Osirus and Melina’s coronation. It is expected of them to go since Clara’s parents are busy visiting the outlying territories of the shifter kingdom.”

“Hmm, another time then?” She yawned until I felt her breathing go even, falling into a deep sleep.

Chapter Nineteen

Kane

Cyrenewaspowerful;therewas no doubt about that. She kept hidden in the Earth realm, helping a small coven grow to its full potential. She liked the quiet life, especially since her power grew. Cyrene was no fool. She knew that people would try to extort her power, try to use her, and hurt her friends or family to do it.

“She resides in the Black Claws pack with Alpha Wesley and Luna Charlotte,” August mentioned. I rubbed my face with my palm.

“He found his mate,” I muttered, crossing my arms. Wesley was the most powerful werewolf in the Earth realm. He kept things quiet, and kept the other packs in line. If there was to be a king of shifters in the Earth realm, it would be him, but that wasn’t how things worked over there. They were all very territorial.

“Yes, Cyrene said she defeated a demon.” My eyes twitched, turning to August. He stepped back, Torin growling in the back of my throat. “A demon?” I questioned.

“Something about Hades losing control on one of his demons, or demoness, I should say.” August sat on the opposite couch, taking a glass of ice and pouring himself a drink. August wasn’t a drinker, so this must be some interesting news.

“A demoness called Trixten. Hades was involved and even showed himself to the entire pack of wolves, including Cyrene’s coven. He gave them the job of finding the demoness since he couldn’t find her himself.” Leaning back into the couch, I scratched my head. My body was still riddled with dried blood, leaves, and dirt. I should have taken the time to bathe myself, but I was too worried about Clara.

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