Sweet Comfort 🌶️🌶️

Lilac

Lilac returned to her and Kyril’s bedroom, overwhelmed.

First, Zion had attempted to kill her. Then, Kyril had told him the agonizing truth about the brothers’ history. And now it turned out that Serena, Zion’s mate, might still be alive?

It was all too much to process.

Although Lilac had been exceptionally brave over the past few hours, she was still an introvert at heart. These events, these revelations one after the other, had taken a toll.

Lilac felt like all her energy had been sapped, that she was a mere shell of a person now.

As she pulled the sheets off the bed, she felt a desperate need to shift.

To be nothing but a little wolf in her own private world. Just for a moment.

Kyril

Lilac, are you okay?

Kyril

Where did you go?

Lilac

I just need to be alone.

Kyril

Alone?

Kyril

That doesn’t sound like you.

Lilac

Please, Kyril...

Kyril

No.

Kyril

I don’t accept that.

Kyril

I’m coming to you.

Lilac whimpered beneath the bed. Although she did long for Kyril’s company, she didn’t know how to be around anyone right now, let alone her mate.

When Kyril stepped inside the bedroom, he was surprised to find her wolf beneath the bed, hiding under the sheets, curled up in a ball, tail wagging sadly.

“Come here, little flower,” he said.

He grabbed her by the scruff and carefully pulled her out.

“You’re okay,” he soothed.

Cradling her wolf in his arms, Kyril put his forehead to hers and growled softly. The vibration of his chest sent waves of calm throughout her body.

Slowly, gingerly, he coaxed her out of her anxious stupor.

Burrowing her muzzle into his chest, Lilac panted gratefully.

“Shift for me, Lilac,” he said.

Her wolf let out a low growl and playfully nipped at his cheek before obliging him.

As fur disappeared and bones shifted into place, Lilac’s human form took over, leaving her naked as the day she was born.

Had it been a different scenario, she would’ve been inflamed with embarrassment, trying her best to escape his clutches. But right now, Lilac ignored her instincts and instead threw her arms around his neck.

“It was all just so…”

“I understand.”

He trailed his lips against her forehead as she curled up closer beside him, relishing his scent. “You have nothing to be afraid of.”

~Tracing.~

~Caressing.~

~Skimming.~

“Nothing,” he repeated, kissing her tear-stained cheeks, savoring every inch of her skin.

Lilac began to feel a tingling sensation throughout her body.

“My mate,” he said in a rumbling voice that was primitive and raw.

Lilac shivered, thighs now quivering from his animalistic gesture.

Parting her lips, she let out a small whimper as he trailed his hand along her backside. Her body shook in want, craving her mate to satisfy the need blooming between her legs.

“My flower,” he groaned.

The edge of their mouths touched, his hand traveling up her ribs and resting beneath her breast.

~Lips hovering.~

~Teasing.~

~Taunting.~

A swelling of sexual desire spread from within her. She sighed in pleasure as he growled in need, bringing his other hand down to her gentle mound.

~Rubbing.~

~Stroking.~

~Feeling.~

Lilac moaned as his fingers crept lower and his lips left a gentle, lavishing kiss on the mark between her neck and shoulder.

Lilac’s eyes fluttered shut at the feeling of his fingers sliding against her wet folds.

Kyril, careful not to penetrate, explored the rift of her opening, circling and outlining the moist slit with erotic precision.

Lilac could hardly take it. It felt so blissfully euphoric. She wanted to feel ~him~ now.

Reading her mind, Kyril lifted her so that she straddled his lap, legs spread wide open.

His hands reached around, cupping both cheeks with a tight grip while his stiff erection rubbed against her.

He flexed his hips in an upward motion, locking his lips to hers, moaning.

~Tempting.~

~Pulsing.~

~Enticing.~

Even though Kyril still wore his clothes, Lilac could feel the entire length of him, his hardened bulge throbbing ever so close to her entrance.

He used his fingers as a surrogate, making her cry out in pleasure.

An overwhelming hunger consumed her, and she yearned to remove the cloth barrier between them.

His jeans were growing more soaked every second from her secreting fluids.

Just as they were beginning to find a rhythm, as Lilac unzipped Kyril’s jeans, ready to invite whatever came next, she saw Kyril’s eyes lose their focus.

Someone was interrupting them with a psychic message.

~Not now!~

Lilac groaned in disappointment, urging him to ignore the voice. But clearly, it was important because Kyril was still listening.

Jon

Kyril.

Jon

I’m not supposed to be dealing with pack business while I’m healing.

Jon

But this is too important.

Kyril

Damn it, Jon!!!

Kyril

I’m starting to think you’re doing this on purpose.

Kyril

Your timing, I swear...

Kyril

Aren’t you injured?!

Kyril

WHAT DO YOU WANT?!

Jon

They found him.

Jon

The restaurant owner, Donovan.

Jon

We’re all ready.

Kyril

Your timing could not be worse.

Jon

I’m sorry, my Alpha.

Jon

But you said it was urgent.

Kyril

I’ll be right there.

KYRIL

While Kyril was happy to hear that his Beta’s health had improved, he wasn’t even close to done with Lilac. His fingers were still inside her.

He stood, carrying his mate in one arm, the other hand still between her folds. “We’re not finished yet,” he growled, laying her gently onto the bed.

“Kyril, don’t…”

But he had work to do.

He reluctantly removed his fingers then stepped out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

~Lilac, I will be back soon~, he promised. ~You better be ready for me~.

***

The Alpha and his pack leaders rode in silence to the restaurant.

Donovan, the owner, had always fostered connections with powerful, and occasionally dangerous, characters.

But after they’d discovered that Serena may have been in that restaurant…

That raised all sorts of questions.

Strangest of all, ever since they’d gone looking for Donovan, he’d been mysteriously absent. As if he knew he was in trouble.

This only made Kyril more suspicious.

Once he got a whiff of guilt, Kyril didn’t stop until he’d hunted it down and forced it to reveal itself.

Whatever secret Donovan was hiding, Kyril was going to figure it out.

“Why did we bring ~him~ again?” Jon asked, nodding to the other carriage.

Zion sat there in chains.

Kyril sighed, understanding Jon’s distaste for the situation. The demon ~had~ tried to kill him, after all.

“If Zion’s mate is alive,” Kyril said, “he deserves to be the first to know.”

Jon shook his head and whistled between his teeth. “With friends like that, who needs enemies?”

“We’re not friends, Jon. I’ll never forgive him for what he did to you. But as his brother, and as the man responsible for...for what happened to Serena, I need to make things right.”

Jon looked at Kyril and nodded his support.

It reminded Kyril how grateful he was to have a beta as loyal and strong as Jon. Even with a bandage covering his neck, he’d demanded to come on this ride.

“Jon,” Kyril said. “I don’t know what I would have done if…”

“I understand, my Alpha.”

Jon smiled appreciatively and then, leaving his professionalism aside just to be Kyril’s friend for a second, he winked.

“Anyway, now I’m not the oldest one to find a mate. Joke’s on you.”

Kyril shook his head then laughed. Only Jon could make jokes at his expense and live to tell the tale.

“We’re here,” the coachman said.

They left the carriage and made their way into the restaurant, Jon accompanying Zion in chains.

Michael and Alex had already cleared the patrons out and had Donovan cornered in a booth.

Kyril dropped his jovial expression the second he saw the tall, lean restaurant owner with greasy slicked-back hair. Kyril wasn’t going to waste time with asking politely.

He wanted answers.

“Alpha Vasilio?” Donovan asked, playing dumb. “May I ask what’s going on?”

“Don’t play games, Donovan,” Kyril growled, eyes shifting to obsidian black. “You know we’ve been looking for you. And ~we~ know you’ve been hiding from us.”

“I...I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Alpha…”

Kyril’s lip curled.

He turned to Jon, who retrieved the guest book and slammed it on the table in front of Donovan, who flinched at the sound.

“Why are pages removed from this book? The day we were here, for instance?”

“Respectfully, Alpha Vasilio, our guests value their priv—”

Kyril didn’t let him finish the sentence. He transformed his hand, bringing a sharp claw directly beneath Donovan’s neck.

“I know you have a sharp memory, Donovan. Recite the names of the guests. Every one. Don’t make me ask again.”

Donovan gulped and proceeded to hesitantly recite the names he’d removed one by one.

Kyril watched, waiting for a name that would stick out. But none of them did.

Until, that is, Donovan said two initials instead of a name.

“S.T.”

“Stop,” Kyril ordered. “Was there a woman with that man? A woman in a cloak?”

“Yes, my alpha.”

Zion’s eyes widened in shock. Lilac’s story was true then. The bracelet.

He looked at it between his cuffed hands.

“Who is he? S.T.?” Kyril asked.

“Please... He is incredibly dangerous,” Donovan stuttered. “I fear for my life if I—”

“I know who it is,” Zion said, shaking his head. “Of course. The day that Serena disappeared... he was here. The BASTARD! He met with you, Kyril.”

All at once, Kyril knew exactly who the letters stood for as well. He got up with a start, leaving Donovan, sweating bullets, in the booth with his guest book.

Jon frowned, following him. “Who is Zion talking about?”

“Stavros Tadd.”

“The leader of the Corban Coven? Didn’t you just meet?”

Kyril thought of that encounter. Although Stavros had hidden his intentions well, Kyril remembered scenting something off and vile about him even then.

His reputation as one of the most dangerous vampires in the north didn’t come from nowhere.

Kyril stopped to look back at Zion, whose eyes were swimming with tears.

There was a chance his mate was still alive.

After all these years, could it really be true?

Could Kyril finally be absolved for the sins of his past?

Kyril turned back to his beta. If ever there was a time to find out the truth, it was now.

“Rally the strongest of the pack,” Kyril growled. “It’s time we pay Stavros a visit.”