Iona’s gaze came back to Jamie. So much suspicion in that gaze. He hated that look. I want her trust.
She didn’t appear to be in the mood to give it to him.
“So as long as you have my blood, you get to live forever, huh? I’m betting your brother,” Iona said the word like the curse it was, “knew all this, too. That’s why he just wouldn’t take my hell, no for an answer when he asked me to mate with him.”
“I’m killing him…” Latham would never touch her again.
“No, I’ll do that. I can fight my own battles, and pick my own mate.”
A mate that isn’t you. He knew exactly what she meant. His fingers lifted. Curled around the hand that she still had pressed over his heart. “It isn’t just your battle. He took my family.”
“Mine f**kin’, too,” Sean snarled.
Jamie flinched.
Iona’s small, pink tongue slid over her bottom lip. “I-I know.” Her gaze darted to Sean. Jamie saw the sympathy in her stare, then her stare returned to him.
“I won’t let him keep hurting and torturing. I will stop him.” Then, he confessed his shame, “As I should have stopped him years ago.” Because if he had, then none of this would ever have happened. His parents’ deaths. The slaughter of the wolves in their pack. Her imprisonment. “I won’t walk away this time.”
He was alpha now. He’d been ten when Latham killed Sean’s family. Jamie’s father hadn’t believed his tale. He’d said it was a child’s wild imagination.
Latham had been furious with Jamie for trying to reveal his slaughter. His brother had found him, separated him from the others…As soon as I’m alpha, I’ll take your head, brother. Latham’s threat had whispered through his head so many nights when he’d been a child.
But now…I’m coming to take your head, Latham.
Jamie had fought to be strong. He had his wolf, a fierce, powerful beast that knew how to battle. How to survive. How to conquer.
And his blood had woken Iona. Only an alpha’s blood could have woken her. He was an alpha. The power was inside of him, as it had always been. Maybe that was why Latham had hated him so much. Maybe his brother had known that, one day, the life-or-death battle would come between them as they fought for dominance.
That day is now.
“I thought you were different.” Iona’s voice was so soft now. Not soft because of sadness, but because of the fury he saw blazing in her eyes. “Why couldn’t you have been different?”
“I am different.” He pressed her hand harder against his chest. “I’ll prove that to you.”
But she laughed and the sound cut into him. “There’s nothing to prove. I’m in your blood, wolf. I know you.”
He pressed his lips to hers. Kissed her hard and deep and wild. Kissed her with all of the consuming passion and lust that he felt for her. “And you’re in mine,” he gritted out against her lips. “I feel like you’re a part of me.”
Sean cursed and backed the hell away from them.
Jamie’s gaze searched hers. Her breath heaved but she didn’t speak.
He did. “You’re a part that I didn’t even know was missing…the best part of me.” His heart.
Then, because it was what he had to do, Jamie stepped away from her. He turned to face Sean. “I’m sorry about your parents. I didn’t tell you…because I knew you. Even at six, you would have challenged him. You would have died.” He hadn’t been powerful enough to save Sean. Not then.
And he’d kept the secret, kept it for so many years, because Latham’s power had just continued to grow. Jamie hadn’t wanted to risk his best friend’s life. He’d protected him the only way he knew how…by staying silent.
It wasn’t a time for silence any longer. It was a time for vengeance.
Jamie exhaled slowly. “If Latham said midnight, then we’re getting there as soon as night falls. We’re not going to give him a chance to set a trap.” They were only going to let Latham die.
“Of course, there’s going to be a trap,” Iona said, but her voice wasn’t quite steady. “With Latham, there’s always a trap. Werewolves in the shadows, vamps ready to betray their own kind, witches with their spells…”
“He doesn’t have a witch this time,” Jamie pointed out with a fast glance her way. “So there’s no power for him there.”
“Isn’t there?” Iona asked as she swept past him. “Latham doesn’t make mistakes when it comes to battle. He killed Brian, yes, but I’m betting that was only because he’d already found another witch who was more powerful. A witch he’ll try to use against us in our midnight battle.”
The kick in his gut told Jamie that she was right.
“So we need to be ready to fight that witch with our own magic.” From the corner of his eye, Jamie saw the flames begin to dance over Iona’s hands. “And when it comes to magic, this time, I will be holding my own.” The flames flared higher. Jamie’s eyes met Iona’s. The gold in her gaze matched the flames.
Beautiful.
Death had never been so gorgeous. Latham was a fool. Against them, he’d have no chance.
Time for his brother to die.
Chapter Seven
“I want you to bite me.”
Iona blinked at the low, growling words. They were inside the heavy walls that had once surrounded her old home, and the scent of ash teased her nose, a reminder of the fire and death she’d dealt earlier.
Her head turned so that she faced Jamie. Sean was about fifty yards away, perched carefully at the top of the west side wall. A group of trees grew near the wall, partially concealing Sean as he watched…and held a rifle equipped with silver bullets.
“My blood can increase your power,” Jamie told her as his gaze searched hers. “You know it can. A werewolf’s blood can amp you up for the battle.”
So it could. The blood of paranormals always seemed to pulse with power. And she would love to have more power before she faced off against Latham but… “If I take more from you, then you’ll just grow weak before the fight.”
A muscle flexed along his jaw. “Not if you give me your blood, too.”
An exchange. To make them both stronger. Yes, they needed it, but for some reason, when he asked for her blood, it made her feel…used.
So she narrowed her eyes and told him, “The first time I f**ked you, I did it because I wanted to make Latham angry. I wanted him to catch your scent on me. I wanted him to know that I was giving my body to someone else.” Anyone else. Not just—