Arctic Bound (24 page)

She is his fiancé.
Her mind tried to reason with her, but she wasn't trying to hear that. Why did her body have to be in direct conflict with her brain? The entire time she was up on that stage, she'd had her reservations. She was right. Her body obviously was wrong.

You were expecting Blue up there. Not Victor.
That was true, but at any time she could have walked away. Said her safe word. But she hadn't. She'd been trying to show not only him, but also herself, that she could do this. That she could explore her darker urges. She had no clue what an Eros or a Reaping was. It just reminded Nerina how out of her element she was when it came to Victor's culture. Trying to be something she never would be. A Werewolf.



 

Victor walked down the hall following Sasha. He should have stayed with Nerina, but tradition and instinct had him and his wolf following the woman that would be his first mate.

She's not your mate yet.
No she wasn't, but she'd called him on bedding rights. A double edge sword that worked to both an advantage and disadvantage. They could sleep with anyone they wanted until after their mating ceremony. But if one of them were to call them out on bedding rights, then they had to obey. This put him in a precarious situation with Nerina. He didn't have the time to explain how bedding rights worked. He was pissed at himself, and furious with Sasha for throwing her weight around.

“In the future, you will not talk to Nerina that way, am I understood?”

There was no response from the woman who walked a few steps ahead. Victor lunged forward, grabbing her by her arm and turning her to face him.

“Do you get me Sasha?”

“Yeah, as long as you don't forget who your first mate is. I don't plan to be just your baby maker or even your sometimes bed partner. She will get what's left of you, not me. I'll sleep in your bed and wake up in your arms, every morning like clockwork. You want to visit her in the night then you will, but you only get her on the nights I bleed and am unable to service you.”

Sasha snatched her arm from his grasp and made her way into the room two doors down. Blue was at the end of the hall, arms drawn across his massive chest as he watched the entire event go down.

“Something I can help you with, Blue?”

The other man shook his head no, making his way to the other end of the hall where his suite of rooms were. Even Cherry was hesitant to look him in the eyes. Everyone was giving him shit over this.

And why wouldn't they. You're supposed to be with the one you claimed. Instead you're following protocol and going off with Sasha.

True, but she was also his intended mate. Tradition dictated that should she call on bedding rights, he had no choice but to oblige. It was a shitty move on her part, interrupting what should have been his and Nerina's night. But what else could he do? At the end of the day his job as the next in line to rule was to keep dissension from bleeding into the Pack.

He waited as Sasha stepped inside the room. A room smaller than the one that Nerina was in. She turned around with her arms crossed over her chest, taking in the room with her sharp eyes.

“Is this how the Alpha of the Alaskan pack is to be treated? Why is it that we have the smaller room?”

“You have the smaller room. I was to room with Nerina.”

Sasha stepped up to him, placing one hand at her hips, the other around the towel that was precariously wrapped around his waist.

“Your whore is to have the better lodgings, then?” She purred against the side of his neck. The hand at his waist, ripping the towel away. “You will service me this evening, and every evening after tonight, or I will make sure that both our fathers know how you disrespected me tonight.”

Victor gripped both her hands holding her away from him.

“I'll do what I am meant to do, but it will be my way. You don't run shit,
Sasha.” Her eyes widen at his threat, her nostrils flaring. “You will submit to me, and if you really want to play this out, well, we'll be playing it my way. Now step the fuck back.”

Victor made her step back forcefully, releasing her hands. He was naked, and hard. Something he didn't want, but was reluctant to control. His animal side appreciated her form and was eager to dominate two women in one night. The duality that all his kind suffered from was a blessing and a curse. In his heart he knew he was making the wrong choice, but it was his mind that rationalized. This was the way it had always been. If Nerina couldn't get on board with his kind, then she was as good as dead.

What about her way of life? What about making concessions for what she would call normal?
These were all valid thoughts, but at the end of the day, she'd moved into his world. Not the other way around.

“You don't need to be so damn touchy, Victor.” Sasha tried pouting. A few weeks ago it would have worked to her advantage. Now, not so much.

“Take off your dress and get on your hands and knees, up on the bed.”

She didn't waste any time. She shredded the dress and stepped out, revealing she wore no undergarments.

“Shoes too. Hurry up.”

He could smell her arousal and it was both tart and strong. Not heated and sweet like Nerina's. Eventually he was going to have to get used to coming to this one nightly, otherwise their couplings would be brutal.

The air vents came on then, cooling down the room. Something Victor found odd. Blue only ever turned on the air conditioning when the club was packed. Most everyone would have gone home by now. Sasha was in position on the bed, and he quickly joined her, wanting to get this over with so that he could go back and explain things to Neri. Gripping the back of her hair with one hand and her waist with the other, he thrust forward. Sasha let out a cry of pleasure and then she was grabbing her neck as if something was stuck in her throat as she began coughing.

“Sasha, what's wrong with you?”

That's when he smelled it. AgNO3. Someone had pumped silver nitrate into the vents. It was deadly if inhaled in large doses. The amount was so small that he doubted it would truly cause panic. It was more of an irritant than anything else. But then he smelled the smoke. Before he was able to pull out of Sasha, they both collapsed to the bed, choking on silver. Guess their attackers knew the correct dosage to put them down after all.

Chapter 17

 

Nerina jolted awake in bed, soaked in sweat. Only she hadn't been dreaming of fire. She hadn't been dreaming about anything at all. Kicking the sheets off she realized that the room was in complete darkness, but she could see. There was an orange glow beneath the door, and she knew without even having smelt the wood charring or the paint melting off the walls, that on the other side of her bedroom door was a raging inferno.

Fuck!

How could this be happening? Her mind needed a moment to catch up with her brain. But she didn't have moments. Another second spent in this room meant her life. Nerina quickly ran to the bathroom, soaking her robe as best she could and soaking two towels. One to breathe with, the other to wrap around her head. There was no one calling out for help. Not one single person. In the darkness she could see what she thought were specs of silver light. The smell of silver assaulted her nostrils and the distinct smell of Nitrous oxide was next. Someone had pumped silver nitrate into the vents. Somehow she knew this had everything to do with her. Not caring if the doorknob to her freedom was sizzling hot, Nerina pulled on the knob, opening her bedroom door. The flames from the fire were hot. The blaze alone danced skyward as it tipped the tops of the walls with its heat. No one was in the hall. This boded badly. Werewolves could be killed by silver. That much she knew, and anyone could die from fire. At least she thought that was true for werewolves. There was white smoke coming from underneath the door to her right. She knew there was very little hope for whoever was on the other side. But she couldn't leave them behind. They'd protected her.

Placing the wet washcloth over her mouth and nose, she ran to first one door, kicking it in. She saw Blue passed out on the floor, his pants still on, his feet bare. His furniture slowly catching fire as the fire crawled down the sides of the wall. Nerina didn't waste any time dragging Blue out into the hall and slamming his door shut. She needed to get him out and then check to see who else was left.

“Come on Blue, work with me here,” Nerina hissed as the heat from the fire continued to rise. Her cloth was almost dry which meant she could suffer from smoke inhalation. Blue was big and by no means light as she fireman carried Blue down the hall and up the stairs into the clubs main area. Everyone was out cold. Everyone but her. How the hell was she going to get them all out to safety?

Sweat from her hair ran into her eyes, stinging and clouding her vision. When she finally pulled Blue outside, she went back in and started dragging bodies out. As long as she got them to the outside of the club she could go back in and continue rescuing the rest. Her limbs hurt, and her legs felt numb from the weight of each person she had to carry, or drag outside. On her third trip out she noticed that Blue was coming to.

“What the hell happened? What's going on?” Blue coughed and wheezed as he tried to sit up.

“I don't have much time to explain, but if you have the strength, I need your help.”

Blue's eyes cleared and she could see they were turning yellow. Shit, she didn't have time for his wolf tantrum, and apparently neither did he. As he stood, his body began to convulse. The seams of his pants separated to allow his muscles to bulge and contort. Nerina could hear bones cracking as Blue roared. His entire body bent submitting to the change. His knees hit the ground as his form grew three times the size of his already massive frame. His vertebrae cracked and grew as he hunched forward. His arms looked longer than his body, but then his body quickly caught up, hair sprouting on every inch of his skin until the man was gone and only the beast stood in its place. This change was completely different from Victors. Steel strong arms and legs brought him to his feet. His abdomen covered in a smattering of hair did not hide the true power underneath as each ab muscle protruded, showing casing his armor made of muscle and veins. His mouth full of razor sharp teeth, howled towards the night sky. His electric blue eyes scanned everything around him as he pushed past Nerina and into the blazing fire that had taken hold of his club. He was too tall to clear the door, and instead of ducking to get in, he lifted his massive clawed hands to the archway and pushed it out of his way. The frame cracking and groaning as it broke easily under his power.

The others were coming to as well. She didn't have to ask for help as each of them changed in a somewhat similar fashion and headed inside the burning building. Nerina followed. None of the other wolves were as large as Blue. He dominated in sheer size alone as he carried four injured wolves on his back. Neither Victor nor Sasha were anywhere in the group.

Downstairs, they have to still be down there.

Motioning for one of the wolves to follow her Nerina battled her way back down the stairs using her new sense of smell to search for Victor. There were others down there as well. Two other wolves had followed her down and they quickly tore the door off their hinges pulling Cherry from a room, and the twins from another room. It was the door on her left, the one that she could hear falling to pieces was where Victor and Sasha were.

Emotions were trying to get the best of her, but she refused to let that get in her way. This was about saving lives. People were going to die. It didn't matter if they were human or not. The handle was molten red, and she knew she couldn't touch it. Fear gripped her chest and made her lungs burn from the smoke as she kicked the door in. Everything was up in flames, the walls, the paintings, the wood on the four-poster bed, and there in the middle was Victor and Sasha. He was lying on top of her, his body covering hers as if to save her. They were both naked. She felt sick, sick to her stomach at what was in front of her but couldn't let it slow her down as she first pulled Victor off the bed and then Sasha. She couldn't carry them both out, but if she didn't get them to safety, one of them would die.

“Somebody help me! Help me please! We're in here!” She screamed, hoping someone would come to her rescue. But no one came. She tried pulling them both at the same time, but her body was weakening. It was useless. She got as far as the opening of the door when the beam from above came crashing down, blocking their escape.

 



Victor came to with a roar. His body had been trying to fight off the AgNO3, but he'd been helpless to do anything about it. The room he was in with Sasha was up in flames, both of them were naked, and in his clouded vision, he could see Nerina trying to unblock the door. Her smaller frame not strong enough to get the beams out of her way. She could have escaped if she'd only been concerned with herself, but she hadn't left. She'd come for him and Sasha.

“Nerina, stop.” Victor tried to get to his feet, but found he was very weak himself. Her whiskey brown eyes pierced him with disdain and hurt before turning back to her task of kicking the thick piece of wood. He could hear the others above the roar of the flames. They were trying to find a way down to get to them. “Nerina, the others are coming for us.”

“Well, while they're trying to work on that, I'm going to work on this. If you want to help then help. Otherwise, shut the hell up.”

The towel he'd worn earlier were burned, and normally he wouldn't give a care about his nudity, but the situation that he found himself in was one of shame. She'd found him, probably still balls deep inside of Sasha, and she pulled them apart to get them to safety. He was all kinds of fucked up, but he couldn't dwell on that now. His strength was slowly returning and he planned to use every ounce to help save their lives. He could tell the strength in her legs was waning. Her thighs shook and her hair and robe were soaked in sweat and soot. Victor made his way over to the beam and with every cell in his body, he slowly lifted, instructing Nerina to grab Sasha and pull her through.