The Fantasy

LORELAI

Everyone tensed as the beast ran up to the gates. His giant body skidded to a halt in front of us. The pack growled and snarled, but I told them to stop, stepping forward.

The beast was covered in blood, its sparse fur coat matted, and there were cuts all over him. And bite marks.

“What happened to you?” I asked quietly as the beast whined.

“Is the witch dead?” Kai demanded. The beast snarled at him.

“We need to know,” I said to it in a softer tone, but it growled and shook its head. My chest tightened, a heaviness sinking in my stomach. I turned, my eyes meeting Brax’s in the nursery window.

He nodded and stepped back, shutting the curtains, then closing the shutters. He would protect them; his shadows would close the room off. I trusted that, but being away from them and knowing Adrenna was out there was still making me panic.

I stepped forward, but Derik grabbed my arm.

“You are close enough,” he hissed, and I scowled at him but didn’t fight him. Instead, I turned to the beast who had dropped to the ground, lying there, breathing hard, his eyes closed as he whined.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with you. How can I help?” I asked, but it just whined louder.

“It’s a beast; we cannot have it here,” Tatum interrupted, holding the flame torch and scowling at the beast.

“He won’t attack. I trust that, but I think he might be hurt. I just can’t figure out how. In the shadow realm, he was literally being crushed by a mountain and he still made it out, healing himself. These wounds aren’t healing,” I said, going to touch one.

My shadows hissed and barred my fingers from touching his skin. I frowned as they writhed inside me, my stomach turning. I stepped back.

“Something’s wrong,” I breathed. The pack tensed, edging in closer.

“No, not in that way though. They’re… I think he has been poisoned? Or…wait.” I looked into the beast's eyes, standing directly in front of him, sending out my shadows so they could read what I couldn’t.

“Did the vampires attack you?” I asked. It nodded, its body rolling to the side as it breathed harder.

“The beast is not immune to vamp venom then,” Kai said, stepping forward, ignoring its irritated grunts. Kai sniffed over its body, circling it before grimacing.

“Definitely vamps.”

“And Adrenna?” I asked, trying to get my own senses to pick up her scent on him. The beast shook his head before meeting my eyes. He directed my look to the dirt beneath his paws. He drew a line in it. Then a ~V~ on one side, a ~W~ on the other.

“Werewolf and vampire?”

It nodded, then pointed to himself and the border. Then he put an ~A~ on the ~V~ side.

“Adrenna is on the vampire’s side?”

He nodded again. Tatum growled and stomped his feet.

“Enough charades. We need answers!” he growled, stepping forward, but I cut him off.

“No,” I bit. “Doing anything to him won’t get the answers faster since he literally can’t talk. Use that brain of yours, Tatum, I know it’s in there,” I taunted. He glared at me.

“I am. He is not one of us and was in love with the very witch trying to kill us. He’s also had contact with the vampires. He could be here as a diversion. Or has been manipulated into getting into the city and telling the vamps every single weakness. We already let one traitor in, I’m not making that mistake again,” he snarled, and then he was being yanked back by his hair. Kai, a head above him, leaned down to his ear.

“Your points are valid, Tatum, but you do not use that tone of voice with my mate, or I will make sure you look as broken as the beast, do you understand?” He said, his voice deadly and rough.

It sent a shiver through me, a good shiver. My wolf really liked it when our mate stood up for us.

“Apologies, Alphas. Luna. I only want us safe,” he said, backtracking. I nodded, smiling at Kai who grinned and winked at me, letting Tatum go before coming back to me.

“These vampires, did they cross the border?” Derik asked, and it nodded. The silence was suffocating.

The beast pointed to himself then, and I frowned. Then his paw went to the border and redrew it, whining.

I sucked in a breath as I realized what he meant.

“You can’t cross the border?”

The beast nodded, and I swore under my breath. Fucking hell.

“So if Adrenna stays over there, then we’re fucked. Was she with the vampires?”

The beast shook his head, slowly, his lids closing. He was dying, and he was our only hope for keeping Adrenna away from us. I wasn’t letting him go, not when he was the best protection against her.

I rushed forward before my alphas could stop me and shook him awake.

“Hey, no, don’t fall asleep. One more question.”

He waited.

“If I heal you, will you protect us? Stay in our territory and defend our city with us? You can’t hurt the wolves or humans, but the vampires and Adrenna—you can take out. Do you agree to those terms?” I demanded.

It looked between me and the alphas before nodding once. I didn’t hesitate; I let my magic pour from my hands, healing each cut, each bite.

The venom burned me; I felt it in me as I healed him, but I burned it right back, my magic dissolving it.

“Are you sure this is a good idea? The vamps might be trying to get you to use more of your magic?”

“Then they made a mistake because adding to the pack makes us stronger.”

The wolves gasped, and their fear trickled into the link. I kept working.

“He isn’t a part of our pack,” Tatum snapped, but my eyes met his with a sharp glare.

“Isn’t he? Because he is part wolf and so am I. So is Cain. What if by adding him to our pack, we are as strong as him? What if adding him to our link means we can connect with him, he can communicate, and we can always sense where Adrenna is through him? Don’t you think those things are worth it? He is not programmed to kill us, only her,” I said.

Derik smiled at me. “She’s a perfect luna, isn’t she?” He beamed, and I grinned, turning back to the beast and moving around him to heal him.

“You really think adding him to our pack will help, Luna?” Tatum asked, and I nodded. “And you trust him?”

I nodded again.

Tatum closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then stared at me. “Then we trust you and your decision,” he said, and I paused my healing to smile at him.

Those words meant everything to me. I let him know how proud I was in the link, then made sure the rest of the pack were agreeable. By the time I finished healing him, he’d be a part of us, and I had to make sure they were okay with it before I did.

Derik and Kai were in there too, Brax hanging back so he could concentrate on the twins and sensing everything around them, but I knew he was okay with it. Anything that protected them was worth it all.

The pack seemed to think so too because they agreed, warmth spreading through my veins at the agreement, the overwhelming support they gave me had me taking a shuddery breath.

“Thank you,” I whispered, then looked up as Kai and Derik bent down in front of the beast who was staring at them.

“Do you understand what’s happening?” Derik asked, and the beast nodded.

“We’re letting you become a part of us; we are a family, and the pack’s interests will always come first, do you understand?” Kai said. The beast hesitated his nod, and I felt his reluctance.

“We know you are bound by a curse. Killing Adrenna is our priority too,” I reassured, and the beast nodded slowly.

“You will feel what we feel, think what we think, and hear what we hear. Are you willing to take that on?” Derik asked, but before the beast could answer, his eyelids dropped closed, and he passed out.

I finished healing him and stood up. He wasn’t linked yet, but I could feel the tentative connection trying to.

“Let’s put him in the stables. It’s big enough to house him for now,” I said, and the pack moved to grab him, half lifting, half dragging him toward the stables where the other livestock were.

I ordered the farmers to check in on him and have food and water for him. They went off to do it, and I turned to Derik and Kai.

“How do we bring him into the pack?”

“He has to agree to the oath, kind of like the one you took,” Kai said, reminding me with a suggestive waggle of his brows.

I grinned at the reminder and playfully shoved him, but he grabbed me instead of letting me go and pulled me in for a heated kiss that had my toes curling.

“The guard around the perimeter is going to double overnight while the beast is out in case Adrenna or the vampires are tracking him back here,” Derik said, then eyed the forest beyond the closing gates. I turned to look, shivering at the darkness.

“I’m going to run patrol,” Kai said, kissing over my face. “I want first shot at any vamps that try to come at us.” He grinned.

I slipped my hand into Derik’s and watched as Kai ripped into a wolf, a huge ass wolf just like his human form, then laughed as he nuzzled into my neck, tickling it before running off. Derik shook his head and tucked me under him.

“We should get some sleep,” Derik said, but I had another idea.

“Actually, I was wondering if it was safe to go to Tabby’s, or do I need to get her to come to me?” I asked. Derik frowned.

“Why?”

“I want to see if there is a way to lift the curse from the beast once all this is over,” I said. Derik nodded, thinking hard.

“We’ll get Cain to summon her here,” Derik said, pulling me toward the mansion. He led me upstairs, heading toward the nursery, and reached out in the link to Cain.

~“Can you summon your mother for tomorrow?”~

~“Why? It’s hard for her to travel away from the swamp,”~ Cain replied.

~“Lorelai wants to talk to her, and I’d rather she not head there herself. But if it’s too much for Tabitha, then we can find another way to talk to her,”~ Derik explained.

~“I can talk to her through your mind again,”~ I offered. Cain was immediately agreeable.

~“Meet me in an hour? In the tower?”~ he replied.

I agreed, then closed the link off.

I grinned at Derik and hauled him into the nearest room, which was a tiny bathroom. I kissed him. He held my face, meeting my kiss, and kicked the door shut.

“I’m normally more of a sex-anywhere-but-the-bathroom kind of guy, but I’ve changed my mind,” he grinned. Then he kept kissing me, his mouth hot and demanding as he slid his tongue past mine.

“We’ve got an hour, Alpha, make it count,” I teased. He met my smirk with one of his own and lowered down my body, kissing as he went. My flesh was riddled with goosebumps, the fire flaring behind my skin as I gripped the vanity.

Derik peeled my pants from my body, slowly and torturously patient, kissing and caressing my skin as he went. It was so different from last time; the need was so much more intense. The affection and attraction in his mind when he touched me leaked into every pore, spilling desire and need.

It was a wildfire, catching everything in me alight when his mouth breathed across the soft folds between my legs, already slick with want for him. His tongue slipped between them, and a moan broke from my lips. My clutch on the vanity got stronger.

He was slow, teasing, remembering my flesh, tasting it like it was the finest delicacy. But then the starvation took over, and he looked up at me with the feral wolf that hid behind all his patience.

And then he devoured me, stroking his tongue along my clit, sucking it, pulsing in and out with thick fingers that had my knees trying to buckle. I cried out as my body exploded in pleasure, consuming me from the inside out with nowhere to go.

He didn’t relent, making a meal of my soaked pussy, keeping me from thinking or even breathing properly. I grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked; I needed more.

But he held on, gripping my thighs in his strong hands, giving me the last few strokes of his tongue I needed to let go. My orgasm crashed through me, destroying me with swift swells of pleasure. The fire turned everything inside me into a liquid that he drank like a sweet nectar made of the finest grapes, cleaning me up as I shuddered above him.

“Fuck, I’ve missed how you taste,” he breathed, wiping his mouth before lifting me onto the vanity. “Kai is the one who finds fucking in places other than the bed some kind of addiction, but I am starting to see the appeal. Despite being unsanitary, the allure is in the idea of getting caught,” he muttered, kissing along my collarbone as he peeled my clothes off.

“I think the allure is you alphas and your talent for making me need you inside me at all moments of the day,” I said, wrapping my arms around his neck. He freed his hard length and spread my legs wider, my pants dangling from one leg still. He lined himself up, pressing into my entrance, and paused there.

“Could be. But I’d wager it’s because we are so connected that our minds, bodies, and souls call to each other until we are together again,” he breathed against me, kissing me softly as he slowly sunk into me, using his big hands to pull me onto his cock.

He groaned against my mouth as I sighed, the full feeling making me complete. It was insanely good for my soul, taking him inside me, knowing every time he pushed in, he was loving me, desperate for me, healing from everything outside that threatened to come for us.

It sent me higher, my pussy clutching him every time he stroked my walls. He wasn’t as reckless as Kai, not as rough as Brax; he was Derik—the patient one. The one who stretched out every damn feeling until I was ready to explode.

The friction and heat grew as he clutched me against him, still kissing my swollen lips, sliding his tongue along mine until I was desperately clawing at his ass, begging for him to sink inside me deeper, harder.

His cock pulsed inside me, gave me a little more, hitting my G-spot but only enough to make me shudder and whimper around him every time, holding my orgasm off by a thread with every single stroke.

“Please, Derik… I need…more.” I trembled, my nails biting into his skin, my claws growing. He hissed and fucked me that little bit harder, his fingers running down my back.

His other hand cupped my ass, lifting me onto every stroke so my angled hips were at exactly the right height and line to take him fully in. But he still held off.

“I’ve got a whole hour with you, beautiful, I’m not going to waste a single second of it racing to the finish line,” he teased my earlobe, and I sighed, my head hanging back.

And then he gave me more of him, and I cried out at the hard thrust. It enlivened everything inside me, and I met his next thrusts with a desperation that had me climbing the hill to orgasm so fast.

He yanked me back down with a slow stroke, one of those luxurious ones that filled me inch by inch in the most infuriatingly delicious way. I felt every vein, every throb, every damn part of him as it sunk into me, and when the head hit my core, I let go.

I couldn’t hold back the fiery need for him. I bucked against him, and his pace changed. He pushed me back, enough for him to fuck me harder, faster through my orgasm, making it so much more intense.

My throat was hoarse with the sounds I made, the moans escaping one after the other as I clutched him and the vanity, the pleasure overwhelming me until I was a mess of damp sweat and aftermath.

As soon as my climax passed, he went back to the teasing pace, building me up slowly, forcing my body to feel every sensation before letting me crash again. It was so much discipline, so much restraint, his body holding out for so long until he let himself give in.

He hauled me against him, crushing my chest to his, fucking me in a spurt of the thrusts that sent me spiraling with him. His hot seed filled me, slipping down my leg as he groaned against me, feeling me, holding me until he was finished.

It took him longer to finish, his release stretching on for so long, his pace keeping me with him the whole time until he finally slowed his thrusts and rested against me. I let out a sated breath and slumped against him.

He held me there, kissing my raised skin. He nuzzled into my neck, licking up the droplet of sweat there.

My ass was numb from the edge of the bench, and he pulled me off it, putting me in the bath. He grabbed a pail of water and filled it before using it to clean me off, using the same build-up of care.

He took his time, cleaning every bit of sweat and cum from my body, kissing the bits he cleaned like he was re-marking his territory. I smiled as he did before pulling his lips to mine.

“And what do you need, Alpha? How do I take care of a wolf who keeps everything on the inside?”

“I already have everything I need, beautiful,” he whispered against my lips, and I kissed him again. We hadn’t spent much time taking care of each other or kissing, so being able to was a novelty that made the moment that much more than just a kiss.

Derik pulled me out of the tub and then did up my clothes. I did his shirt up that I had torn at, then moved into him, holding him. His arms went back around me, and I kept him there, just feeling him against me was enough.

I snuggled against him as he nuzzled me, and I swore I could hear him purr, a rumble in his chest making me smile.

“So that’s how to turn you mushy? Give you a big old snuggle?” Derik grinned and held me tighter.

“Only if it’s you doing the snuggling. Kai and Brax can keep their snuggles to themselves.”

He laughed beneath me. I did too, pulling back slightly so I could look at him.

“Damn, and there goes my fantasies of watching you three together,” I said.

Derik raised a brow, his eyes wide. “That’s a fantasy of yours?”

I shrugged. “Could be fun. I mean, you three watch me all the time; seems like it’s my turn.”

Kai teased in our link. “What kind of mates would we be if we didn’t give her everything she fantasizes about?” I laughed. Of course, he was there for it.

“I’m not having this conversation through the link. We’ll talk later. For now, I have to take Lorelai up to Cain to talk to Tabitha,” Derik said. Brax tensed, stepping back from the link.

Kai said, “That’s not a no, Little Luna. Have fun with Tabby, say hi from me, and be careful.” Then he carried on his patrol, which was really him just running around the border, barking at the pack to look alive.

All put together, Derik led me out of the bathroom, and we went up toward Beenie’s wing, then up to the tower. Cain was already in there, the candles and pentagram ready.

He gave us a droll stare. “If you ask me to do something for you and I give you an hour, how about a little warning before you spend that time doing things I do not want to open the link on? I’m scarred for life.”

Derik tensed, annoyed that he had seen anything he shouldn’t, but I just shrugged. “If you give us an hour to waste, then just assume that’s what we are going to be doing,” I countered, and he rolled his eyes.

“Got it. We should get this going,” he urged, and I frowned at the clipped tone.

“Is something wrong?” I asked. He shook his head.

“Not really.”

Derik stopped me from going to sit in the pentagram and narrowed his eyes on Cain. “Not a good enough answer.”

Cain sighed and looked toward the door.

“Beenie is pissed I’m doing this. She gets these feelings, and when I said what I was doing, she got a bad one. Now she thinks I shouldn’t do it, but I’ve done it so many times before, I’m pretty sure I can do it this time without running into trouble. She’s just a bit overprotective sometimes. You know how it is with mates,” Cain said, and Derik nodded.

I wasn’t so accepting, though. I trusted Beenie’s judgment; I wasn’t sure about going against it. “I didn’t realize there were risks to this. Aside from tapping out magically, you can draw on mine, can’t you?”

“Yeah, I can; it’ll be fine.” Cain was shrugging it off, and I frowned, lowering to the floor in the middle of the pentagram, still uneasy.

Beenie came in then, slamming the door and sulking in the corner. “If something goes wrong, I want to be here to help,” she murmured, and I nodded, understanding that but not liking how sure she was that something was going to go wrong.

“What can go wrong?”

“The tiny risk of Mom not connecting as fast could mean we get intercepted. A vampire can if they are strong enough, and she thinks Silas will. I know I can keep him out.”

I sucked in a breath; that was a lot of risk for information I didn’t technically need.

“Actually, we do need it.” Derik sighed, and I raised a brow at him, waiting for him to elaborate. “If we can turn the beast, I have an idea.”

“Share with the class then, Alpha,” Beenie snapped.

“If we can turn the beast back, then he will be human again; instead of killing Adrenna, we could offer her something that the vampires can’t.”

“To become human again and be with her soulmate,” I said in realization, and Derik nodded.

“Exactly, it’s a long shot, but it means taking away the threat. It’ll also give you all the border magic, so she’d give up being a witch for him, but it would mean a happy future that the vampires can’t give her,” Derik said, and I nodded.

That was a much better option and something I was willing to risk everything for. Adrenna not being a problem anymore was the highest priority. I turned to Cain.

“Okay, let’s do it then,” I said, and he nodded. Beenie shook her head, dejected like she had expected it, and was still disappointed.

Cain worked his magic the same as last time, before placing a hand on me. It sent me spiraling, losing my link with the alphas and the pack, connecting me to Tabby.

Last time I had been with Cain in her house, but as nausea hit my stomach and a pain in my head grew, my uneasiness grew. The spinning wouldn’t stop, and neither would the feeling of darkness growing in me.

“Cain,” I breathed, trying to catch my bearings, but it got darker until I was dropped in a room.

A throne room with a spiky throne and a blood-red carpet running across the stone and up to it. And there on the throne sat a smirking Silas with red eyes, a red cloak, and no shirt. A black crown sat on his head, and his eyes narrowed in on me.

“Lorelai. A pleasure.” His smirk turned into a grin, and my stomach dropped. I really should have listened to Beenie, but it was too late now, and the rage over everything Silas had done to me and the wolves erupted in me.

I sprang to my feet, my claws snapping out of my fingers, my canines dropping from my gums as I snarled.

Then I charged, my wolf feral as I attacked one of the oldest vampires in our history, my magic erupting in a storm, mixing with my shadows. It was all I had, and I was determined to make it enough.