Bonds of Fire: The Bellum Sisters 2 (paranormal erotic romance) (8 page)

“Yeah,” Willow said, “She called when I was Germany but I couldn’t make out what she said. She mentioned something about the demon being dead.” Willow took a seat at Lyonis’ desk and kicked her feet up on it.

“Yup, she downed it...with an axe to its head!”

Willow’s jaw dropped. “What?”

Lily laughed. “You heard me. She felled that thing like an Amazon warrior. It was epic. So where are you?”

Willow looked around the office and considered lying. Admitting that the Alpha had bested her in this particular match didn’t sit well with her.

“He got you, didn’t he?” Willow sighed heavily.

“Yes, for now. I’m in his house at his in Oklahoma. Ugh, get me out of here, Lily.” Her sister’s tinkling laughter grated over her nerves like sandpaper.

“No way. You two are going to have lots of fun.” Willow pulled back the phone and glared at it as if it had two heads.

“Have you been talking to him or something because I keep hearing the same thing from him?”

“Nope, never met him but I’m going to. I’ll call Chloe as soon as we hang up and we’ll come over.”

“Thank God. You guys can sneak me out of this place.” Relief had her shoulders sagging.

“No can do,” her sister said flatly.

“What the hell do you mean no can do?”

“I’ve had visions, Willow. I’m not taking you out of there and neither will Chloe. You need to stay there and deal with things; it’ll turn out for the best, I swear.”

“Excuse me?” sputtered Willow. “You cannot leave me here! This is a prison. There is a girl already who has a fucking bullseye on my head. She probably thinks I’m encroaching on her man. And he has extra guards to keep me from escaping.”

Lily sighed loudly. “You’re just exaggerating now. Really, Willow, leave that for me please. I’ll tell you what just because I love you, I’ll call Chloe right now, and we’ll be there ASAP.” Willow checked the clock.

“Ugh, I’m afraid that’s not soon enough. It’ll be at least a day before you guys could get here.” Lily giggled.

“Nope, Tyrian has special demons on his team. They can teleport!” A sudden throbbing pain slammed against Willow’s forehead. She rubbed it.

“Isn’t that just peachy.”

“It is. Also, I’m going to seduce my demon.”

“Huh?” Willow said, feeling dumber by the minute.

“Telal Demuzi. I met him, and I’m already halfway in love with him. I keep having dreams about him,” she sighed dramatically. “I can’t wait for my birthday. Another eight months...”

“Riiight,” Willow said. “Listen just get over here as soon as you can. I need you guys.” She said the last softly and hoped Lily didn’t hear the desperation in her voice.

“Right-o. Love you, sis. Have fun why don’t you? We’ll be there as soon as we can. Bye!”

Willow started to say goodbye but Lily hung up before she had the chance.

“Little brat.” She laughed softly.

Feeling infinitely better knowing the cavalry was coming to help, Willow went outside. The town looked completely different from yesterday. People were out walking, dogs were in the yards, children and mother’s were out playing.

Willow took a deep breath, then went to introduce herself. It wasn’t because Lyonis asked her to, but because she needed to find allies. Allies to help her escape.

* * *

Lyonis smiled at his guards, Jackie and Thane. He didn’t trust anyone more to run the pack while he was away. They were his best fighters, his smartest soldiers, and his most trustworthy. Both dominant shapeshifters, Thane and Jackie took a long time to accept a partnership.

Lyonis knew his pack members and sometimes he knew things about them they never quite saw themselves. In this case, he knew that Jackie and Thane were desperate for each other but allowing their own differences to keep them apart. He almost grinned at them; if only they had any idea just how great two dominants could be together. Already he was learning, and he loved it.

“You’re late,” Thane said with a frown.

Lyonis grinned at him. “I was occupied this morning.”

“I bet,” Jackie said with a cocked eyebrow.

Thane gave her a hard look. “I guess in your world a man can’t enjoy his new mate.” Jackie crossed her arms and squared off against him.

“No, Thane. In my world, work comes before play. Besides, she isn’t his mate yet. If you knew anything about women, you’d have seen the look on her face at the welcoming ceremony. She’s pissed.”

Lyonis sat down and grinned at the play between them. Thane seemed to stand taller as he loomed over his partner.

“I know enough about women to know that she’s putting up a front. A front that she wants knocked down one thrust at a time.”

Jackie sighed with disgust. “Oh, please. Not everything revolves around sex, Thane.”

“That’s only because you never allow the males to sniff around you.” Jackie stiffened; her eyes glowing with the need to shift.

Lyonis came to a stand. “Enough of the pleasantries. Let’s get down to business. What did I miss while I was gone?”

Thane took a seat but Jackie stood. Lyonis wanted to shake both of them. He wasn’t the only one who saw what was between them. The pack whispered about it behind their backs.

“Amy’s been prowling since you left and now that you’re you came back with another woman, she’s pissed,” Jackie said.

“That isn’t news,” Thane said. “Amy will get over her Alpha infatuation and move on to someone else eventually.”

Jackie’s jaw flexed side to side. “Maybe or maybe not. She can be a problem, Alpha Lyonis. She’s highly territorial and she has had her mark set on you. I’d caution your future mate.”

Thane shook his head. “In other news, thing were pretty solid here. We had a successful hunting party. We have enough meat to last us through the winter.”

“Fantastic,” Lyonis said. “Anything else?”

“No, everything’s been normal.” Jackie paused then said, “So are you going to explain the succubus to us.”

Lyonis grinned as he remembered his first morning awake with his mate. She hated that he made her feel good. He wondered why that was. Was she merely that stubborn or was there more to her?

“I already did. I went to get her as ordered in the will Francis left me but what I found was something much greater. I felt the connection the instant I saw her. My mate.”

Thane smiled like a cat. “She’s not bad on the eyes, either.” Jackie’s eyes rolled.

“You think that about all women.”

“Not redheads.” The barb sent Jackie’s back ramrod straight; her eyes glowing in anger...and hurt. Lyonis saw it a second before she hid it.

“Enough!” Both of them bowed their heads. “You need to care for one another to be the best at what you do. Not fight all the time. This is not healthy and it does not set the kind of standard I want in my pack leaders.”

“Yes, Alpha,” they said in unison.

“Keep an eye on my mate. She’ll try to escape, I guarantee it. You’re dismissed.” They nodded and left.

Lyonis sat back in his desk chair, his mind wandering. He’d never pictured he’d get his mate in the form of Willow Bellum. A succubus with the attitude of an angry hockey player. But he’d felt the heat inside her, had even seen the moments of hesitation that showed she might care about him, if only a little. She’d paused before she’d kneed him in the face after he took her body the first time.

Chuckling, he rubbed nose. She’d even hesitated before she pushed him into that crowd of women outside the club. Course then she’d saluted and trotted off leaving him to fight off five drunken Germans.

She was strong. He’d always thought he needed a submissive, someone to answer to him, but this was so much better. She would be strong enough to influence the women in the pack but also listen to him.

As he sat back in his chair, he realized he wanted something more though. In time she would grow to want his lovemaking. This he knew. Already she flamed for his touch. How to go about getting the fiery succubus to heel was an entirely different problem.

He didn’t know how was going to do it, but he knew he’d have a great time trying.

* * *

Jackie ignored the voice calling her and continued down the hall. She had work to do, rounds to run, supplies to check. A hand gripped her arm and spun her around.

“Dammit, I said to wait.” Thane was one of the few men in the pack actually taller than she was, and she hated it. He always seemed to use it to try and make her feel small.

“And obviously I didn’t want to. What do you want?” He frowned at her.

“What was your problem back there?”

Jackie rolled her eyes. “The better question would be what's your problem, Thane. I don’t have one. Though your obvious ignorance of the Alpha’s new mate was astounding.” Thane looked away, probably to control his temper. He always did have a wild one.

“I am not ignorant of the situation or of women. You’re the one who can’t obviously see that the female wants him—bad.”

God, she didn’t want to talk to him. Especially since the insult about her hair was still burned inside her.

“You know this has been some great gossip, Thane, but I have work to do. So if you don’t mind...” She took a step back but he growled and grabbed her arms. He didn’t pull her close, merely held her, but her breath caught at the unexpected touch.

“Dammit, Jackie. I’m...” He looked to the ceiling then the floor with hard eyes. Finally he looked back in her eyes.

She laughed at him. “You can’t even say it, can you? You know what, save it for someone who cares.”

His grip tightened on her and pulled her close. Jackie’s eyes shot wide as she felt the burning heat of his body press against her. She’d never been this close to him, not even in training. His brown gaze was unflinching as he stared at her.

“I think you do care, Jackie.” His gaze lowered for a mere second to her mouth. Jackie jerked, stunned, then shoved him hard. He went and she was almost disappointed.

Before she did something humiliating, she turned and ran.

Chapter 9

Grumbling, Willow finished the second row of houses and seriously considered marching back to the Alpha and beg him to lock her back up just so she wouldn’t have to do this.

So much for making allies. Either the pack members were hesitant about her or they outright didn’t like her. She’d even been on her best behavior and didn’t cuss. Okay, maybe once but that’s only because a dog had been humping her leg.

She stopped in front of the next house then resolutely walked up to the front door and knocked. A few seconds later the door opened up and Willow nearly sighed in defeat. It was venom eyes.

“What do you want?” the blond woman asked. Well this woman might help her escape since she hated Willow’s existence.

“Hey, I’m Willow Bellum. I’ve been going around the pack introducing myself.”

“Is that so?” The woman’s contempt couldn’t be any more obvious unless she had a sign in her hand that said “I hate you.”

“Yup. It was at Lyonis’ request.” The woman smiled coldly.

“I bet. Well I’m Amy Thierry and let me just speak for the rest of the pack and say we don’t want you here.” Willow almost laughed.

“Yeah, I can see that. If it’s any consolation, I don’t want to be here either.”

“Oh, really? Well the exit's right over there. Why don’t you go?” Willow ground her teeth to keep from flipping the woman off. This being nice thing was hard.

“I’d love to but Lyonis has extra guards following me around to keep me from leaving.”

The woman scoffed in disbelief. “You actually want to get away from the Alpha of the shapeshifters? The man is a legend; any woman would be honored to have a man like him. I would fight for him if he was mine,” she said harshly.

Willow took a step back and threw up her hands. “I didn’t want him. He kidnapped me.”

“Quit being such a bitch, Amy.”

Willow turned to see a woman walking up behind them. She carried a child in her arms and a baby bag around her shoulder. Willow liked her already.

“Hi, I’m Rachel Huron. Just ignore Amy. Everyone knows she’s always wanted to land the Alpha even though she isn’t his mate.”

“Shut up, Rachel. Both of you get the hell away from my house.” She stormed inside and slammed the door shut with a bang.

Rachel shrugged. “Sorry about that. Alpha Lyonis has been the one man she’s always wanted.” Willow snorted and followed Rachel away from the house. “So the Alpha kidnapped you, huh?” she said with a smile.

Willow didn’t smile back; it wasn’t funny to her. “Yeah, he did. I’m not staying with him either.”

“Why not?” Amy looked genuinely puzzled.

“Because I don’t want him. He wants to subdue me into some sexual submissive that pleases him all the time.” Rachel tossed her head back and laughed.

“Don’t all men? Hey, it’s not my place to really say anything, but since you’re not a shapeshifter I’ll go ahead and say it.”