Dead After Dark by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Fury put more mashed potatoes on his plate. "Yeah, me, too."
Angelia didn't understand why that would make him sad. "Thanksgiving?"
Fury looked at her as he cut a piece of turkey on his plate. "It's an American holiday. Every year they come together with their families to give thanks for their lives and company."
"It's why all the wolves are here," Bride said. "The mated ones went home with their wives earlier. Traditionally, the unmated males stay here for dinner and marathon gaming tournaments."
Again, she had no idea what they were talking about. "Gaming tournaments?"
"Video games," Keegan said.
Fury scoffed at the young wolf's eagerness. "She's from medieval England, whelp. She has no idea what you're talking about."
"I can show you."
Fang rolled his eyes. "Down, boy. Arcadian females equate being with us to bestiality."
His face stricken, Keegan returned to his food and didn't bother to look at her anymore.
One of the older males at the table pushed his plate back. "I've lost my appetite. Thank you, Bride, for the food." He looked at Vane. "You need me to stay and help protect your house?"
"I'd appreciate it if you would. We still don't know how many are able to wield whatever took down the lion."
He inclined his head before he headed toward the living room.
Two of the others joined him.
Fang handed a bowl of bread to Fury. "So, Keeg, you been practicing Soul Calibur?"
Keegan grinned. "I'm going to pwn you so bad, buddy. No ring-outs this time."
Vane laughed. "Careful, Keegan, he's setting you up. Fang knows all the special moves for half the characters."
That set up a whole conversation about a subject Angelia had no understanding of. But as they chatted and joked with each other, she relaxed.
Strange how they didn't seem so animalistic like this . . .
They seemed almost human.
Trace slowly moved from his mother's lap around the table to all the men who took turns holding him for a bit. When he got to Fury, he stood on his legs and reached over to her.
"You got drawing face like my daddy sometimes."
Her cheeks heated up as that brought her back to the full scrutiny of the wolves.
The wolf on the other side of Keegan sighed heavily. "Damn, woman, stop panicking every time we look at you. We're not going to throw you down and . . ." He stopped as he looked at Trace. "Do what you think we're going to do. Yes, we know what's going on with you. And no, we don't do that to women."
Bride took Trace back from Fury. She handed him a roll to eat while she directed her attention to Angelia. "I know you don't know Katagaria customs. When a woman is . . ." She paused and looked at the baby before she continued, "in your condition, she selects the male she wants. If she can't decide, they fight and she usually picks the winner, and if he doesn't satisfy her, she picks another. But it's always the woman's choice. The males give their lives and their loyalty to their women. Since their survival hinges on their ability to procreate, that is hardwired into their beings."
As Bride started to rise, Keegan took Trace from her arms to hold. "Do you need something?" he asked her.
"Just going to the restroom, sweetie." She patted him on his arm as she walked past him.
Angelia looked at Fury as he ignored her presence.
Was that why he'd never touched her? Thinking back, she remembered how he'd always been more respectful to his mother, sister and her than Dare had been. Always worried about them and their well-being. If they'd ever needed anything, he'd been there for them.
"Why did you bring me here?" she asked him.
He swallowed his food before he answered. "I want to know what that weapon is."
Everyone's attention focused on her and every hair on her body stood on full alert. They were poised to attack and she had a hard time controlling her panic.
"We've already had this discussion," she said between clenched teeth. "You can torture me all you want, but I will tell you nothing."
Vane laughed. "Katagaria don't torture . . . they kill."
Two of the older wolves stood up. "So we kill her?" they asked in unison without even a hint of emotion in their voices.
"No," Fury said. "I've given her my protection."
"Oh." The younger one who'd spoken picked up his plate and carried it into the kitchen.
Bride returned to the table and retook her chair.
One by one, all the men left except for Vane, Fury, Fang, and Trace.
"What happened to Zarek?" Fury asked.
Fang swirled his wine in his glass, something that struck her as very human. "He and Sasha are hunting down Dare."
"I hope they don't kill him before I do."
"He's your brother," Angelia reminded him.
Fury cut a harsh glare at her. "Let me explain something to you, babe. When Fang and Anya found out Vane was human, they protected him from our father. If he was wounded or sleeping, they'd take turns guarding his human form to make sure no one learned his secret. The instant Dare found out I was a wolf, he called out the patria to kill me. I think I should return that favor to him tenfold. At least he's a grown man, not an adolescent who had no real way to protect himself from the stronger, older warriors."
"He also has an unfair weapon. I think we should take it and . . ." Fang paused as he looked at Trace. "Put it someplace really uncomfortable."
Fury's gaze didn't leave hers. "I'd like to put it in the same place he wanted to drive that hot poker."
Angelia shook her head at his brutality. "All of you do realize that holding me here is an act of war."
Fury arched one brow. "How so?"
"You are wolves holding a patria member."
Vane snorted. "And I'm the Regis of your patria. Absent, true, but I am the head of the Kattalakis Arcadian Lykos. As such, you fall under my governance. To declare war on Fury and his Katagaria pack would require my edict, which I'd never give."
"So you condone his behavior?"
"For the first time in our relationship, and as scary as that thought is . . . yes. And as the Regis, I want to know what that weapon is that you used on the lion. Failure to give it to me will result in a trial and I think you know what the Katagaria council members will demand as punishment."
Her life. But not before she was brutalized. Whenever a Regis, especially one who ruled your par tic u lar patria requested something of you, you were compelled to give it.
Never had she hated that law more than at this moment. "We call it the Pulse."
Fury scowled. "What the hell is that?"
"It sends out small electrical charges. Not so much that it causes us to change back and forth, but rather it keeps us locked in our base form."
Bride sighed. "Like that collar you wear."
She nodded. "Only the pulse is permanent."
Fang shook his head. "It can't be. If it works on electrical impulses, it has to have a battery."
"It uses body chemicals to keep it charged."
Vane looked ill at the thought of it. "Can it be pulled out?"
"It's too small to be seen. There's no entry wound and no way to find it once it's inside a body."
Fang nodded. "That's what Carson said, too."
Bride grimaced in distaste. "Who would invent such a thing?"
"A Panther in the year 3062," Angelia said with a sigh. "He's now selling them to the highest bidders."
"Why?" Vane asked. "We don't need money like that."
Fury pinned him with an angry glare. "You're thinking like one of us, Vane. The Panther's Arcadian. Think human for a minute. Greed is their god."
Angelia was beginning to understand the differences herself.
Vane looked at Fury. "You should take her to the Lion at Sanctuary. Let her meet his mate who can no longer communicate with him. Or better yet, let her meet his children who will never know how much their father loves them. Never hear the sound of his voice as he tell
Angelia refused to be intimidated by him. She knew better. "Animals don't do that."
Fury choked on his food before he pinned her with a vicious glare. "Yeah. I never said anything like that to you, did I?" He stood up and wiped his mouth. "You know what? I'm sick of looking at you. I remember a girl who used to be capable of caring about others. One who gave people the benefit of the doubt before she attacked them. But obviously she died. I want you out of here before you finish destroying what few good memories I have of that girl." He jerked the collar off her neck, then left the room.
Stunned, Angelia sat there, unable to believe what had just happened.
She was free . . .
"Uncle Furry?" Trace looked up at his mother. "Why is Furry mad, Mommy?"
"His feelings were hurt, baby. He'll be all right."
Vane met Angelia's baffled gaze. "You're free to leave. And I should warn you, the lions are out for blood. The guy you nailed . . . his brother is Paris Sabastienne, and you killed their youngest brother. While as a rule animals aren't big on vengeance, they are big on protecting their family. You've attacked them without provocation and they intend to slaughter all of you when they find you to keep you from doing this to any more members of their pride. You are their prey. Good luck."
Angelia swallowed in panic. "But I didn't shoot him."
Fang shrugged nonchalantly. "They're animals. They don't care who pulled the trigger. They're hunting by scent, and yours was all over Jake. Have a good life, cupcake, at least for the next few hours."
Angelia drew a shaky breath at his morbid forecast. As much as she hated it, she knew he was right. She wouldn't get far and there really was nothing she could do. She'd been a part of this. Willingly.
There was no way to change the past. Any more than she could keep the lions from killing her. They wouldn't listen to reason and honestly, if that had been done to someone she loved, she wouldn't be forgiving, either.
This was what she deserved for her part in Dare's brilliant plan. She would fight, but she wouldn't run. It wasn't in her. If this was her fate, then she would meet it with dignity.
Yet she didn't want to die without at least saying she was sorry to one person.
Excusing herself, she flashed from the table, up to Fury's room.
What she found there stunned her most of all.
Fury stood in front of the dresser holding the small medallion she'd given him when he'd reached puberty at twenty-seven.
"What's this for?" he'd asked her when she'd handed it over to him.
"You're a man now, Fury. You should have something to mark the occasion."
It hadn't been expensive or even particularly nice. Just a small circle with an X on it. Yet he'd kept it all these centuries.
Even after she'd betrayed him.
Balling it in his fist, he looked at her. "Why are you here?"
She wasn't sure really. No, that wasn't true, she knew exactly why she'd come. "I couldn't leave without telling you something."
He rolled off his retort in a dry, brittle tone. "You hate me. I suck. I'm an animal unfit to breathe the same air." He dropped the necklace back into the top drawer and closed it. "I know the tirade. I've heard it my entire life. So go away."
"No," she said, her voice cracking from the weight of her fear and guilt. "That's not what I wanted to tell you." Uncertain of her reception, she approached him slowly, like she would any wounded animal. She placed her hand over the one he had balled into a fist. "I'm sorry, Fury. You gave me your friendship and loyalty, and when I should have treasured it, I turned on you. I have no excuse for it. I could say I was afraid, but I shouldn't have been afraid of you."
Fury stared at her hand on his. All his life he'd been rejected. After he'd left his mother's patria, he hadn't reached out to anyone for fear of being hurt again. Because of his untrained powers, he'd always felt awkward around everyone.
The only person who'd ever made him feel like the man he wanted to be was . . .
Her.
"You stabbed me."
"No," she said, tightening her grip on his hand. "I stabbed at a painful memory. You know me, Fury, but what you don't know is that I have never in my life turned into a wolf. Even though it's part of me, it's a part that I have never been able to accept. I've lived my entire life trying to silence a nightmare that has never relented. We were friends, you and I. And not once since you left have I ever found anyone who made me feel like you did. In your eyes, I was always beautiful."
He met her gaze and the pain inside him scorched her. "And in your eyes, I'm a monster."
"A monster named Furry?"
He snatched his hand away from hers. "He can't pronounce my name yet."
"No, but you answer to it and you protected a woman who twice wounded you."
"So what? I'm a stupid asshole."
She reached up and touched his face. "You were never stupid."
He turned his face away. "Don't touch me. It's hard enough to fight your scent. After all, I'm just an animal and you're in heat."
Yes, she was, and the closer she was to him, the more that basic part of herself wanted to be with him. Every hormone in her body was on fire and it was weakening her will.
Or was she just using that as an excuse? The truth was, even without this she'd spent hours at night remembering him. Remembering his scent and his kindness. Wondering what it would have been like had he been Arcadian and still with her.
In all these centuries, he'd been her only real friend and she'd missed him terribly.
Swallowing her fear, she forced herself to say what she really wanted to. "Sate me, Fury."
He blinked at her words. "What?"
"I want you."
He shook his head and cast her a scathing glare. "That's your hormones talking. You don't want me. You just need to get laid."
"There's a house full of men downstairs I could pick from. Or I could go home and find one. But I don't want them."
He moved away from her.
She followed him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Your brother told me that the lions are hunting us. I have no doubt they'll find me and kill me. But before I die, I want to do the one thing that I used to dream about."
"And that is?"
"Be with you. Why do you think while you were in the patria that I never chose a male to sleep with after I reached my prime?"
"I figured you thought they were limp."
She smiled at his insult. It was so classic Fury. "No. I was waiting for you. I wanted you to be my first." She trailed her hand down to cup him in her hand.
Fury sucked his breath in sharply. It was so hard to think while she fondled him. Hard to remember why he wanted her to leave.
"Be with me this one time." She nipped at his earlobe.
Chills ran the length of his body as the wolf in him howled in pleasure. In all honesty, he'd never taken many lovers. Mostly because of the woman whose hand was squeezing his cock through his jeans. How could he trust another one after the way she'd betrayed him?
He'd always held himself back from the other wolfswans. When they'd been in heat, he'd withdrawn until the woman had claimed another wolf.
It was easier that way. He didn't like human emotions, and he didn't like any kind of intimacy. It left him too vulnerable. Left him open to hurt, and he didn't like being hurt.
He should shove her away and forget how good it felt to be held. He was just about to do that very thing when she wrapped her arms around him and gave him the one thing he hadn't had from anyone other than his nephew.
A hug.
"Do you have anyone who holds you?"
That one question shattered his last resistance. "No."
She walked around him and lifted herself up on her toes to reach his lips. Fury hesitated. Wolves didn't kiss when they mated. It was a human action and it was one he'd never experienced.
Growling, he pulled her into his arms, tasted her fully.
Angelia moaned at the gentle ferocity of his kiss. He cupped her face in his hands as he explored every inch of her mouth. Part of her couldn't believe she was touching a wolf.
But it's Fury . . .
Her Fury.
Even though they didn't pick their mates, he was the one man she'd given her heart to, even when she'd only been a child. "You'll always be my best friend, Fury, and one day when we're grown we'll be warriors together. You protect my back and I'll protect yours." How innocent that promise had been.
And how hard to keep.
Fury pulled back from the kiss to look down at her with those eyes that seared her with his pain and uncertainty. She was afraid. He could smell it. He just didn't know what she was afraid of. "You know that I am, Lia. You're about to den down with an animal. Are you ready for that?"
Den down . . . it was Katagaria slang and repugnant to the Arcadians.
Angelia traced the outline his lips. "If this is my last night to live, I want it to be with you, Fury. Had the Fates not been cruel to us and turned you into an animal when you hit puberty, we would have done this centuries ago. I know exactly what you are and I love you in spite of it." She smoothed the angry frown on his brow. "Most of all, I love you because of what you are."
Fury couldn't breathe as he heard words he'd never thought to hear from anyone's lips.
Love.
But did she mean it?
"Would you die for me, Lia?"
It was her turn to scowl. "Why do you ask me that?"
"Because I would die to keep you safe. That to me is what love is. I want to make sure that this time we both understand the terms. 'Cause if love to you is stabbing me and leaving me to die, then you can keep it."
She choked on a sob at his heartfelt words. "No, baby. That wasn't love. That was me being stupid, and I swear to you if I could go back and change that moment, I would stand there and fight for you . . . like I promised you I would."
Closing his eyes, he nuzzled his face against her cheek, stroking her skin with his whiskers. Angelia smiled at the purely wolf action. He was marking her as his. Mingling their scents together.
And honestly, she wanted his scent on her skin. It was warm and masculine. Pure Fury.