Fated Ties: A Werewolf Paranormal Romance Novel (The Twisted Destiny Saga Book 3) (3 page)

“I…I lost control.”

He lifted her chin with his finger, forcing her to look at him. “So did I. We already knew this about one another, remember? We both affect one another’s control.
But
it doesn’t matter, because we are both strong enough to withstand our mutual loss of control, are we not?”

“I….”

“This is pure, unadulterated passion, angel. There is no room for control. Just enjoy it. You do not need to control or attempt to rationalize everything.”

She took his words in. “Yes, you’re right.”

She sat up suddenly, breaking his hold on her as she realized in a panic, “I need to warn the White Realm about Oriana’s return.”

“Right now, angel?” he asked, waving his hand over her. Instantly a robe appeared, covering her naked body. She looked down, surprised. “I shredded your top and I can’t have you walking around my castle naked now, can I? That is for my eyes only, Marella.”

She smiled briefly at his comment and then she became all business. “Yes. I need to warn the White Realm now. I should have done it right away, but I wanted to find out more about Ryan’s son first. I must return, Nathanial,” she said, getting to her feet.

In a flash of vampire speed he was dressed and standing before her, gazing down at her. Pain blanketed his face, such raw emotion that she had never seen from him before. “You cannot leave, angel.”

“What?”

“I can create a magical link from here to the White Realm for you to converse with Vazra from my castle. There is no need for you to go there in person.”

She shook her head. “I must, Nathanial. Vazra will want to assemble the Royal Court to discuss the best options for dealing with Oriana’s return.”

He stepped into her path. “You cannot leave,” he insisted.

“Nathanial, what is this? Why are you being so possessive?”

“Aside from the fact that you are my destined mate?”

She studied him, searching his face for answers. “You are more intense this time.”

“I need you to remain here under my protection.”

She scoffed and brushed past him. “That is very sweet of you, but I’m a big girl, Nathanial.”

“You are with child!” he called after her.

She stopped in her tracks. For several moments she didn’t move a muscle, didn’t say anything. After what seemed like hours she finally choked out, “You are sure?”

“Yes. I felt it when I was holding you a moment ago. You are carrying my child. Vampire. A girl.”

She spun back to him. “Oh my God.”

He stood before her in a flash and took her hand gently in his. “You are unhappy?”

She shook her head vehemently and said forlornly, “In all the centuries that I’ve lived, I’ve had everything
except
a child. I never thought….”

“This child is my heir, Marella.”

“Your second chance to have someone worthy of taking your place, the chance for you to finally retire.”

“Yes,” he said. “You see why I cannot let you leave? I must protect our child. And there is no better place for me to do that than here. I am at my strongest all the while I am in the Dark Realm. No one can harm me, or those I love. But, as soon as you step outside of the gates, my reach is limited.”

“If I do not return, Vazra will become suspicious. I cannot give him any reason to suspect anything is happening between the two of us. You know, firsthand, how destructive his temper can be. We would be risking our child more, if I do not return.”

Nathanial fell silent as he considered her words.

“You know I am right,” she pressed.

He finally nodded. “We must conceal this pregnancy from him.”

“I am not Oriana. I do not know how she did that with you when she was pregnant with Ryan.”

“I do,” he said, ushering her through the Great Hall. “We must combine our magic. But not out here. In my bedchamber.” He pulled her against him as they walked through the Great Hall. “I will come to you every night in your dreams to check on you. I do not want you gone for too long, angel. Those are my conditions for allowing you to leave here.”

“I accept,” she said.

“If anyone lays a finger on you, I will rip their heart from their body without so much as a warning.”

She nuzzled against his shoulder. “I believe you. But it will be fine. Everything will be fine.”

CHAPTER 3

Cora held her hands outstretched before her. She felt sweat trickling down her brow as she fought to concentrate on the task at hand. Over on the other side of the White Realm palace courtyard she was using her white magic to lift three dragon statues carved out of white stone. Each one weighed approximately two tons. They hovered three feet off the floor. She summoned her strength and raised them higher. She gritted her teeth under the strain.

And then she felt that unsettling sensation return. The euphoria of possessing so much power that pulled on something dark within her, urging her to set it free. What could only be described as a killer instinct, welled up inside her, starting in the pit of her stomach and quickly travelling through every fiber of her being. Panicking, she lowered the statues quickly, careful to do so gently, so as not to break them. Her father would be pissed if that happened.

“Ah! Stop!” she cried out as the dark pull within resisted her will to draw her power back and reabsorb it safely.

The exertion forced her to her knees. She managed to call back her magic and reabsorb it. But the awful feeling was still lingering enough to disturb her. She gripped either side of her head and murmured, “Leave me. I command you, leave me.”

It took a few moments of quiet concentration and complete serenity, before it finally subsided. She breathed a heavy sigh and climbed to her feet.

And that was when she noticed Shaye watching her from the bottom entrance step leading up to the palace.

“How long has this been happening?” she asked, concern etched into her features.

“Since I stormed the vampire mansion to attempt to rescue Ryan.”

Shaye climbed to her feet and approached her. “Every time you expend such significant levels of power, it is a risk.”

“A risk?”

“Of opening a door to the darkness that will become more and more difficult to close without an anchor. Great power doesn’t come without a price, Cora. The universe doesn’t give anyone
anything
for free. Yes, you need an anchor.”

“An anchor?”

“Something that ties you back to yourself. Something that centers you. Do you remember what I told you before you went after Ryan at Luca’s mansion that night? I warned you that Michael would try to manipulate you and make you lose control?”

“Yes, I remember.”

“
This
is what I meant. The loss of control that you are fighting now—the darkness within. Your anchor has to be your own—something personal to you. I would suggest Ryan, or your son. Your love for them is pure and untainted. It will be a powerful anchor.”

“What’s yours?”

Shaye smiled. “My coven.”

Cora nodded and then something occurred to her. “I wonder why my father didn’t tell me about needing an anchor when he was training me.”

She saw Shaye start in surprise at her words. So,
she
thought it was odd, too, then? But, instead of addressing it, she went on to say, “You need to tell Ryan about this, Cora. He should know in case anything…happens. Then he will know how to help you, should you need it.”

“I will.
If
I ever see him again,” she said sadly.
God, I miss him and Orion. So much.

“That’s why I came out here. King Vazra received news a few moments ago from the Dark Realm.”

Cora’s gaze snapped to hers. And that was when she saw something flickering in Shaye’s eyes.
Shock? Fear? Oh my God, what is it?
“Is Ryan…?”

“He’s fine. Your son is fine. It’s just…Oriana is back. She showed up in the Dark Realm. Apparently, Nathanial had been a hair’s breadth away from killing Luca when she showed up.”

“What? Ryan’s mother has returned?”

“A shock to all of us. Although, I’m sure to no one more so than Ryan and Nathanial. Luca and Michael have been imprisoned at the edge of the Dark Realm. Nathanial believes she is still in the Dark Realm and he has people out searching for her. Both he and Marella believe her to be a threat to the White and Dark Realm alike…and…to your son. The bridge.”

Cora’s eyes narrowed with fury, her protective maternal instincts kicking in at the mere suggestion that Orion might be in danger. She brushed past Shaye and sped up the steps towards the palace, taking them two at a time. “My son!” she thundered. “Oriana thinks she can threaten
my
son? We’ll see about this. I want in on this damned Royal Court meeting.”

As she strode through the lobby, fury emanating from her every step, Shaye called after her, “Cora, your father will not like this. He is in session with his Royal Court. You cannot just burst on in there.”

Cora stopped outside the door to the throne room, the place where the Royal Court met around the
sacra mensa
—the Sacred Table of the White Realm. “Watch me,” she told Shaye.

And with that, Shaye hung back as Cora threw open the doors to the throne room and strolled on in. Immediately, all three members of the Royal Court turned in shock at her sudden entrance. Her father, Asha and Marella.

“What is the meaning of this?” her father thundered. “Cora, you cannot just—”

“I believe my son is a factor in this discussion you’re having.”

“That may be the case, but—”

“Then it concerns me as well.” She strolled to the table and took a seat at the opposite end of the table to her father—the other position of power, the other head of the table. She watched his eyes narrow at her obvious rudeness and for taking such a seat of power that was normally reserved only for kings. The way his gaze raked over her with disapproval, she knew he was also upset because she wasn’t exactly dressed for a meeting with his Royal Court. She was clad in her usual leather biker jacket and jeans.
Too damn bad.
“Challenge me if you want,” she threatened. She knew her father wouldn’t challenge her. He knew her power. He’d even admitted that she was stronger than him.

She watched him draw in a calming breath. And then he tore his eyes away from her and returned to his discussion with his court. “Currently, we are just grasping at straws. We are not certain that Oriana truly poses a threat.”

“She made it quite clear, your majesty,” Marella said. “The look in her eyes. The way Ryan and Cora’s son reacted to her. He still has not shifted back to human form.”

“My son shifted into wolf?” Cora asked, incredulous.
Why hadn’t Ryan told me that? Why am I hearing about this entire thing with Oriana from everyone else but him?

“Ryan didn’t want to worry you, Cora. He knew it would only hurt you to know that you are so far away and could not do anything to help. But, rest assured, your son is healthy and doing very well,” Marella said in an effort to comfort her.

“With all due respect, Marella, we are talking about the senses of a child who is barely a few days old. That is not enough to go on for me to strike preemptively, as you so wish,” Vazra told her.

“This
child
is special. His senses are extremely attuned,” Marella pressed.

“A supernatural creature’s senses are never wrong, your majesty. I can assure you of that. And age is not a factor there,” Asha cut in. Being a supernatural creature herself—a dragon with the ability to shift into human form when needed—she knew what she was talking about.

“Even if I accept that, Oriana is currently contained within the Dark Realm. She is Nathanial’s problem. I have every confidence that he is quite capable of dealing with her.”

Cora watched Marella’s eyes narrow at that. “It is not just Nathanial’s responsibility. It is a responsibility that the White Realm shares. She is of White Realm birth and she was once a member of this very court.”

“Is that support I hear for him, Marella? Did your brief stint in the Dark Realm cloud your memory so much, that you’ve forgotten his crimes against this realm? His crimes against my daughter, her husband, Oriana and myself?”

“Of course not, your majesty. I am just concerned about the threat that Oriana poses, that is all.”

Vazra nodded. “We will keep a close eye on the situation in the Dark Realm. But, until there is actually a real threat to
us
, we will not act. It would be foolish to do so.”

Cora caught Marella’s eye and saw that they were sharing the same aggravation at her father’s laissez-faire attitude to the situation. But she also had the presence of mind to bite her tongue. In the short while that she’d been getting to know her father, she’d already deciphered that look in his eyes that he fixed all of them with now. It was a look that told them all that his mind was already made up.

“You are dismissed. Thank you for your counsel,” he announced.

Cora huffed and pushed back her chair. She headed to the door, with Marella and Asha not far behind. As soon as they’d made it out of the room, the massive stone doors closed behind them, enclosing her father inside the throne room alone.

“I don’t need White Realm support to protect my son,” Cora muttered to herself, storming away down the corridor, determined to figure out her own plan to stop Oriana.

#

Inside the throne room, King Vazra waited until he no longer sensed a presence in the corridor outside.

When he was satisfied that it was all clear, he called out in a whisper, “You may come forth.”

A moment later, someone emerged through a rippling translucent barrier. The glamour that had been concealing his
guest
from view of the Royal Court.

“Oriana,” Vazra said, smiling happily at the sight of her.

“My king. Very well done. They don’t suspect you at all.”

“The most they suspect is that I have a soft spot for you.” He crossed to her and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly. “Which, I most certainly do, as you know,” he chuckled.

“It has been several lifetimes,” Oriana said, pulling from his embrace.

“Too long, because of Nathanial’s Dark Realm advisors.”

“Merely one of many reasons for our quest to destroy it.”

Vazra looked away pensively.

“Are you having second thoughts?” Oriana asked. “You know it needs to be done. With the arrival of the bridge and your daughter’s return to the White Realm, it is only a matter of time before the realms move towards unification. You have done a good job of keeping her role in all this quiet.”

“I had intended for her to remain in the human realm, but both your sons made that impossible.”

“Yes, that was unprecedented. Luca has difficulty restraining himself when he wants something. Unfortunately, the thing he wanted happened to be your daughter.”

“I had no choice but to send her to Ryan after he approached her. I needed to ensure that she would be protected and Ryan had the ability to do that.”

Oriana waved her hand dismissively. “It does not matter. We cannot undo what has already been done. There are other ways to fix this. That is why I am here, is it not? You need my black magic.”

“The child is not to be harmed,” Vazra said. When Oriana only smiled, he pressed, “Oriana! I mean it. It would kill my daughter if anything happened to him.”

“There
will
be casualties, Vazra.”

“I am not so naïve as to think that there wouldn’t be. Just not the child, nor my daughter and her husband. You know well the pain of losing your mate. I could not do that to her. And I doubt very much that even
you
could stomach killing one of your sons.”

“You understand that
Nathanial
will not survive this?”

“I have no qualms about that. He has always been a thorn in my side.”

“You also understand that my son, Luca, will need to take Cora for this plan to succeed?”

A look of distaste played across Vazra’s features. “Yes. The less I hear about that, the better.”

“I understand. But it is the only way to drain her of her power. If we do not, she will be able to unite the realms.”

“She is the only one who
can
from the White Realm side.”

“Yes. And, once I kill Nathanial, there will be no one else strong enough to join with Ryan to summon the power needed from the Dark Realm side. As long as we are able to prevent this from happening—initial unification of the two realms—then there will be no need for anything to happen to the child. The child’s part only comes into play once the realms have been united. His hybrid nature—both white and dark—is destined to rule the people of the realms as one. A creature that both dark and white beings can identify with and respect as their ruler. His destiny is to facilitate peaceful coexistence between the realms.”

Vazra nodded, indicating that he was on board. He folded his arms across his chest as he asked her, “So what is this
information
you have for me that you mentioned last time we spoke?”

“Marella is my sister.”

Vazra failed to stifle a gasp. He took an involuntary step back. He shook his head with disbelief. “She is my right-hand woman, Oriana. She has been since you were forced to go into hiding two centuries ago. She cannot be your sister. She cannot be
her
.”