Chapter 32

A bear pawed through the creeping plants tearing and clawing deformed heads from bodies, the barbed collar on its neck was laced with poison, its only concern. It spun as a monster latched onto its spine, biting its rump with its needled teeth.

The tiger leapt, catching the creature seven feet in the air before crushing its windpipe with blood-drenched canines. How many more could there be? They seemed to be growing smarter, hiding.

Four lions hunted into the wastelands chasing the scent of a wounded one. Yes, the bite would eventually take it down, but any failures, any more leech deaths, could mean another one of them turned to food.

A rogue wolf stalked outside the castle walls. This one had been elusive for weeks, killing its omega with a violent assault. They were no longer lone monsters. They were organising themselves. Packs of them. They were hunting-

Sylvie woke, eyes bulging in horror as her dreams swirled noisily in her head, her mates all shooting upright beside her with half-sleepy stares of alarm.

“What?”

She shuffled out from under them and sprinted to the bathroom, emptying the remnants of her stomach in the toilet. When she turned, her mates stood in the doorway wearing the same confused, gorgeous, worried look.

“Sorry,” she whispered, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Then, standing and kneading her cramping stomach, she walked to the basin, washed her hands and gargled some fresh water before spitting.

“What was it, princess?” Kian appeared at her side and searched her face. If any of them seemed to know what she experienced, it was him.

“I think it was just a dream.”

He eyed her dubiously and folded his arms.

“What?” Rowan asked, peering between the pair of them. “What do you know?”

Kian leaned against the counter while Elias blocked the doorway, halting her much-desired escape. She was in no mood to talk about her nightmare. It was just a stupid dream.

“Sylvie has been known to have prophetic dreams, and I’m reluctant to let you dismiss it, princess. What did you see?”

She rolled her eyes and followed the action by rubbing the sleep from them.

“It was like I was looking through the animal’s eyes-”

“Just animals?” Elias clarified.

“Shifters. I was a bear, a tiger, a lion, et cetera-”

“Please tell us everything,” Rowan said, gripping her elbow lightly. God, he looked so cute when he was being earnest. “If it might help my pack, I need to know.”

“And a rogue wolf, but that was it. In each part of the dream, I was hunting- I think I was following vampires, but the way the animals- shifters thought made them sound like monsters. A lot of them called them monsters.”

She shivered, rubbing her arms. “Can we continue this from bed? I’m freezing.”

Rowan scooped her wordlessly and carried her back to bed, tucking her in and sitting at her feet like a lap dog. So fucking cute. The more she saw him this way, his true self, she couldn’t believe how intimidated she had been when she first met him. Big, cute, phoney.

“So?”

She nodded. “So I pretty much woke after that, but I got the impression if I failed in killing the hunted creature, I would end up eaten. I’m guessing-”

“Blood bags,” Rowan finished with a clenched jaw.

“We don’t know if this dream means anything-” Kerensa grumbled thickly from the chair.

“And we don’t know it doesn’t,” Kian shot back. “It’s more than we have at present. It makes sense that Hayes could build an army that might match the strength of the things killing his people and use the others as food or perhaps a warning to the other shifters to keep working for him.”

“When I was the bear, I had a collar on too. Poisoned. Maybe that’s how he’s controlling them?”

“Belladona?”

She looked at Rowan and shook her head. “I don’t know. The bear just said poison. But, still, you guys, it was a dream.”

“Tell me you’re one hundred per cent certain you were just dreaming, and I’ll drop it,” Kian stated from her side.

Staring ahead, she swallowed and gnawed her lip. Could she claim it was just a dream? What about the vision of her mother’s birth or the dreams drawing her closer to Rowan? Were they only dreams or something more?

“I- I can’t.” Satisfied, Kian laid down and pulled the covers aside for Rowan.

He climbed in but stayed sitting. “What time is it?”

“Early. Go back to sleep!” Kerensa growled, flipping on her side back to them.

Elias sighed, sliding in next to Sylvie and rested a hand on her belly. “Try to get some rest.”

With a grumble and a readjustment, pulling her mates closer to snuggle her, she nuzzled her face into Elias’ chest and fell back into a dreamless sleep.

“He brought us clothes again. The least we can do is wear it and not complain.”

“I don’t wear flouncy dresses. I need places to store my weapons.”

While Kerensa and Kian argued, Sylvie changed into Hayes’ gifted navy gown and leaned against Elias by the door. His arm wrapped around her waist and held her steady as she almost fell asleep on her feet. The mark on her neck had started to ache and woke her every half hour after her initial bad dream, and she could’ve smacked Rowan for his terrible timing.

If only they’d just marked each other when she marked him, then the pain wouldn’t be shooting through her shoulder and back every time she turned her head. With one look at his adorable sleeping face, though, she smiled to herself.

She wouldn’t ever hurt him again. Well... unless he asked her to. She was rather fond of Elias’ funishments and wouldn’t mind sharing the delicious pain.

“You’ll need to keep up the act when we join Hayes for breakfast,” Elias spoke lowly to her. She sighed and swayed, bumping him lightly. “I know, grumpy.”

“Grumpy?”

“Yes-” Before she could finish her sentence, he scooped her up and held her eye to eye.

“I’m keeping you safe, my little brat. Don’t test me.”

The blush that erupted across her face only worsened as Rowan chuckled from the bathroom. The laugh turned into a cough as she whipped her head around and scowled.

Spinning back to frown at her Vampire mate, she said, “And if I do?”

“Hey, hey, hey! What the fuck did I tell you yesterday? Keep that shit away from me,” Kerensa yelled. Elias’ mouth twitched as if a smile threatened it, and he placed Sylvie back on the floor.

They left the room shortly after that, dressed and preened like royalty, before following Elias back to the dining room.

Sylvie wanted to ask him why Hayes went to all the effort of providing them with nice clothes if he believed them to be pets but thought better of it.

There were ears and eyes everywhere, surely. Sylvie laced her fingers and stared at her feet behind Elias as they crossed the room’s threshold.

“Welcome, brother- my, you look ghastly. When did you last feed?”

With that proclamation, Sylvie forgot all about her role as a pet and stared up at his face. She hadn’t noticed it in the dim lighting of the bedroom, but under the half-dozen skylights, his skin appeared translucent, the dark blood in his veins appearing clearly on his face and down his neck.

“I’m fine.”

Kian pulled Sylvie back with a subtle grip on her dress, and she shot her gaze down, swallowing. He needed to feed, or he wouldn’t be strong enough to do what had to be done, to save the shifters or protect her and the others.

Drawing a breath to hasten her courage, she stepped forward as Hayes remarked how shit he looked and gripped Elias’ hand, which he promptly shook off.

“Forgive me, Master,” she rasped, tilting her head to expose the unmarked side of her neck. “Please,” she begged, ignoring the growing anxiety through her mate bonds. If Hayes had any suspicion of them not being Elias’ pets, she hoped this would kill those thoughts.

“Ah, she continues to intrigue me, brother. Are you certain I cannot buy her?”

Elias swooped an arm around her waist and hoisted her up like a doll, likely to protect her from him and continue the act she had started.

“She is mine,” he growled, carrying her to the table and sitting with her on his knee. She probably looked childish to the rest of the room’s occupants, but the more strangers underestimated her, the better.

Rowan, Kian and Kerensa sat in their places from dinner and stared at their laps, the hard set of their jaws revealing their frustration with her. Envisioning her mate marks in her mind, she imagined pushing a feeling of regret down the line. Kian and Rowan twitched, as did the man holding her, and she hoped they got the message.

Sorry.

Hayes began talking of the day’s plans and sipping from his chalice, but Sylvie tuned him out, offering herself again to Elias.

She tried to pull her hair off her neck, but Elias caught her arm, lifting the fluttering wrist crease to his lips. Kissing it softly, she bit back a sigh and stared in mixed- emotions as he sank his teeth into her wrist.

It stung initially, the sharpness of his canines digging into her skin like a burning heat that steadily turned dull as he pulled blood from her in even swallows. Would he know when to stop? Already her head felt lighter, dizziness crossing her vision.

A distant clattering of metal on metal made her jump, the action bringing Elias’ eyes to hers, filled with clarity. He opened his mouth and pricked his finger, rubbing his blood on her wound to stop the torrent, and she slumped against him.

While he said nothing, the subtle thumb stroking her thigh under the table was enough to know he was checking on her. She nuzzled his chest slightly and felt the tension melt away.

“Well, you seem to have my servants in a frenzy, girl. Really, Elias, it isn’t like you not to share.”

“I never shared. You just took.”

Hayes blew air from his lips. “Semantics.”

Elias handed a small stuffed loaf to Sylvie and remained quiet as she ate it, only moving to give her a tall glass of what looked like orange juice. They finished their breakfast as Hayes watched them boredly, and the silence eventually became too much.

“Today, we will be going on a tour of the city.” He clapped his hands together and gauged their reactions as Elias growled.

“It is not safe for them.”

“I assure you, I will not let your precious pets be harmed. Besides, most of them appear well suited to look after themselves.”

Sylvie looked up from her plate to see Hayes’ strange smile directed at her.

“Well?” he said. “Let us go.”