Vampires

 

“Who would have thought, Sonny, that when you fuck you sound like an animal?” Yuri noted blandly, standing in the door, gaze locked on Sonia.

Belying his tone, his eyes were blazing.

Then Callum watched those eyes narrow on the claiming chain Callum’s hand had arrested toying with when Yuri appeared in the door and Callum bit back a wolfish howl of elation.

Before he reached out to throw the blanket folded at the end of her bed over their bodies, Callum had thoughts he was certain, if Sonia knew them, she would greatly dislike (and likely have no problem sharing that opinion).

Yuri, who so very much wanted to get his cold vampire hands on her, had walked in on them naked, still connected, her claiming chain glinting in the lights of the room, the cries of their orgasms practically still ringing in the air.

And Callum fucking loved it.

He loved that Yuri had seen everything he saw and heard everything he heard and was right now smelling everything he smelled.

Thus he couldn’t stop himself from aiming at Yuri a very fucking satisfied smile to which Yuri aimed back a very incensed scowl.

“What…what are you…?” Sonia stammered, and hearing the horror in her tone, Callum smothered his chuckle and his arms tightened around her under the blanket. “Doing here?” she screeched.

“Father wants to speak to you,” Yuri answered.

“Now?” she shrieked.

Yuri leaned in the doorway and stated, “When we arrived, we noticed you were busy. Therefore we waited until you weren’t. So, yes, now, if you’d be so kind.”

Callum was surprised he hadn’t sensed them or smelled them.

Then again, he was entirely wrapped up in his pretty little mate so perhaps it wasn’t that surprising.

And he thought that this just got better and better.

They’d been there awhile.

Fucking brilliant.

Callum felt Sonia’s body jolt, taking him from his thoughts, but Yuri casually pushed away from the door and disappeared from sight.

Callum looked from the door to Sonia and found she was still staring across the room.

“Honey,” he called, giving her a squeeze.

“Tell me I’m dreaming now,” she whispered, her voice still filled with horror, as was her face. Her eyes were dazed and unfocused, and at the look of her, Callum had to bite back another chuckle. “No, this isn’t a dream,” she stated, her head slowly turning to face him to breathe her finale. “This is a nightmare.”

“Sonia—”

“They heard us,” she whispered.

They did. They not only heard their orgasms, they probably heard a great deal more. Even if Gregor and Yuri weren’t vampires, who had exceptional hearing, in fact all their senses were exceptional, they still would hear them. Fuck, the neighbors probably heard them.

“Sonia—”

“We’re loud,” Sonia went on.

“Yes, baby doll, but—”

“We were having sex,” she breathed this fact as if he hadn’t participated fully in the event, her eyes widening, and Callum was losing his fight with his amusement and felt his body start shaking.

“Sonia—”

“He said…” she cut him off, her dazed eyes clearing and beginning to flash. “He said…he actually said that I sounded like an animal.”

“Son—”

She disengaged from him and rolled angrily away.

Callum rolled to his side, got up on an elbow, and watched as, clumsy in her fury, Sonia struggled with her nightgown.

The material was caught helplessly around her arms and her head was hidden by it but she still ranted on.

“I can’t believe what just happened. What he just said. My brother!” She tugged the nightgown down with effort and then glared at Callum. “Well, essentially my brother saw me naked and…and…” she leaned toward him and hissed, “fastened to you.”

“Fastened to me?” Callum repeated, the thread of humor in his tone impossible to miss and Sonia didn’t miss it.

Her eyes narrowed and she snapped, “Nothing about this is funny!”

Callum thought everything about this was the height of hilarity, especially her reaction.

He didn’t share that.

Instead, he said, “Baby doll, calm down.”

She leaned back and her eyebrows went up. “Calm down?”

Callum exited the bed and pulled her rigid body into his arms.

“Yes, calm down. It happened. It’s over. Let’s get dressed and go down and see what we’re dealing with.”

“Oh, we’ll do that, all right. We certainly will,” she told him, pulling free from his arms and then jumping around on one foot trying to tug up her underwear.

Callum grabbed his clothes and pulled them on as she yanked up her panties and smoothed her nightgown down. Then she ran her fingers through her hair while walking to her chest of drawers. She pulled something out of a box on the top and twisted a holder in her hair, fixing a ponytail.

Callum had on his jeans, was shrugging on his shirt, and seeing her makeup free, in a nightgown and ponytail, her lips bruised from his kisses, her face flushed with sex, he thought she’d never looked more adorable, never prettier, beyond beautiful.

Perfect.

Without buttoning his shirt, he strode to her and yanked her in his arms. His head descended and his mouth claimed hers in a kiss so thorough, the bruising of her lips wouldn’t disappear for days.

When he lifted his head, their hearts were both beating faster and Sonia looked like she was emerging from a delicious dream, a fact which made him want to kiss her again.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t.

“All right, baby doll,” he called softly and he saw that, with effort, her eyes focused on his and he grinned, which made her eyes focus on his mouth, which made him want to laugh but he kept speaking. “Remember I told you that you have family now and they wouldn’t want you to struggle, no matter what you’re struggling with?”

She blinked and then she nodded.

He dipped his face close to hers, looked her in the eye, and said quietly, “You’re about to see what I mean.”

Her eyes grew wide but he ignored her look, took her hand, and guided her down the stairs.

Gregor was lounging on one of Sonia’s clean-lined pristine couches by her Christmas tree.

Yuri was fuming while leaning on the mantel above the fireplace.

They both came to attention and watched as Callum led Sonia down the stairs and into the room.

Callum’s gaze went to Gregor and he demanded, “I’ll want to know the meaning of this.”

Gregor slowly closed his eyes, visibly seeking patience, and when he opened them, he said in his cool refined voice, “Remember who you’re speaking to.”

“I know exactly who I’m fucking speaking to,” Callum returned.

“I kept her safe for you for thirty-one years,” Gregor rejoined, Callum heard Sonia gasp and felt her hand tighten spasmodically in his.

He curled her hand up, drawing her nearer, and tucked it under his arm.

“You kept her safe for Lassiter for thirty-one years,” Callum returned. “You vowed it, you did it. Your work is done.”

“He’s already claimed her,” Yuri announced hostilely. “I saw the chain.”

Gregor looked to his son and murmured a warning, “Yuri.”

Due to Gregor’s position amongst the vampires and Callum’s royal standing, Callum had known Gregor all his life. However, recently, linked by the Arlingtons, primarily Sonia, Callum had grown to know Gregor and Yuri very well.

Gregor was tall, black-haired, and lean. His son was blond, like his mother, and had more bulk to his long frame.

Gregor was also quite like Mac, without the warmth. Patient and thoughtful about his actions.

Yuri was quite like Callum, as much as Callum hated to admit it. Impatient, quick to anger and when he wanted something, he fucking well got it and he’d consider the consequences later.

Except, for Yuri, he wanted Sonia.

And he would never have her.

Not only because she had been Callum’s before she existed and most especially now, but also because the vampire culture didn’t allow vampires to mate with mortals.

Yuri didn’t heed his father’s warning and his gaze narrowed on Callum. “Four days. You had her four days and you’ve already claimed her. Tell me, Cal, did you whisper your people’s secrets in her ear as you were thrusting inside her or did you simply boggle her mind with your legendary dick and she still doesn’t even fucking know?”

Callum heard Sonia’s indignant intake of breath, his triumphant elation evaporated, and his temper rose.

“Do you want me to challenge you?” he asked Yuri and Yuri pushed away from the mantel stating he did indeed. Callum’s skin prickled, he so wanted to transform to take on the challenge. But he didn’t reckon Sonia, no matter how angry she was earlier and now, would like to watch her beloved “puppy” ripping her “brother” apart with his teeth.

Not to mention, he hadn’t yet told her that he was her puppy and that her puppy was a werewolf.

“Control your son,” Callum clipped to Gregor, not taking his eyes from Yuri.

Gregor sighed and noted, “You aren’t helping, Yuri.”

“No,” Sonia stated flatly, her eyes on Yuri and they were cold. “He isn’t.”

“Sonny—” Gregor started but Sonia cut him off.

“Callum took me to the cabin, Gregor.”

It surprised Callum to see Gregor flinch, but he recovered quickly, stood, faced her, and said again, “Sonny—”

“You told me it had burned down.”

“My dear.”

“You tore them away from me, not piece by piece but fast and painful, like ripping off a Band-Aid,” she snapped. “Is that what you thought? If you took it away quickly, it’d hurt less?” She didn’t give Gregor the chance to answer, she went on, “Well, I’d already lost them quickly once so it fucking well didn’t!”

“Sonny, give me one moment to explain,” Gregor said.

Sonia obviously didn’t feel in a magnanimous mood for she proclaimed, “Callum gave them back to me. He took me to the cabin and he introduced me to Regan. She even has pictures. Do you know who doesn’t have pictures of my mother and father? Me!”

“Lassiter and Cherise made me promise I’d erase your old life so you could live your new one,” Gregor returned quietly. “I didn’t like it but there were a great number of things Lassiter and I didn’t agree on. But he was your father. That’s what they wanted. I vowed to do as they asked and I did it.”

Callum stared at the vampire.

The different immortal beings on earth all had uneasy relationships with each other. The relationship between vampire and werewolf was the most uneasy. However, Callum had always respected the vampire vow.

Any vow a vampire took he or she would never break it. They’d die to keep it and vampires enjoyed their immortality and most held it sacred. Unlike werewolves, who often skirmished and felt losses, sometimes numerous, amongst their own, vampires had only warred once in all of history. They didn’t reproduce as easily as werewolves (who were quite prolific) and they had a variety of edicts that governed them which were pure lunacy but had been put in place to protect their species. Lastly, they couldn’t procreate with humans, which werewolves could and did, frequently, which was one reason why Yuri would never be allowed Sonia as his mortal mate. Vampire law forbid it.

Werewolves by their nature were lusty, and unless there was an insurrection or rebellion against the monarchy, the laws were few and wolves were free to make their own lives amongst their brethren, humans or inhumans, as they liked. If Callum or his father before him or his before him attempted to enforce abundant strictures on wolves, his brethren would rebel and their culture would descend into chaos. Free to live their lives, however, werewolves were naturally warm, sociable, and practically consumed life, likely because, with their intermittent fighting, it could be shortened.

Vampires were colder, far more controlled, and practically every move they made was governed.

The differences between the cultures were even evident in their clothes. Both Yuri and Gregor were wearing superbly tailored suits. Callum hadn’t even bothered to button the torn flannel shirt he wore over his jeans. He couldn’t even remember the last time he wore a suit and didn’t currently own one.

Because they were opposites, the two peoples did not get on well with each other and studiously avoided contact.

Callum had only met one vampire that he respected. His name was Lucien and Callum liked him because Lucien’s intensity reminded Callum of a wolf.

Not to mention, Lucien was an epic warrior.

Sonia broke into his thoughts with an astute one of her own.

Too astute.

“You talk like they knew they were going to die,” she accused and every male in the room, vampire and wolf, went still.

Callum watched with further surprise as Gregor’s face slightly softened at the same time he quickly covered.

“Parents, my dear, when they become parents tend to plan for such things. Death is an ugly fact of life and when someone loves another, they’ll want the one they love to be cared for if they’re not around. So, Sonny, they prepared for that time, they gave strict instructions, and when I agreed to be your guardian should that unfortunate event occur, I vowed I’d follow them. And I did.”

It was a good cover because it was the truth, with only the fact not shared that Lassiter and Cherise Arlington prepared carefully for their deaths because what they were doing in their lives put them in mortal danger.

Callum gazed down at Sonia to see that Gregor’s words had affected her. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears and it cut him to the quick seeing them. He dropped her hand but curled an arm around her shoulders, tucking her front into his side.

She rested her cheek against his pectoral and wrapped her arms around his middle. Her soft body molded to his and she took in a shuddering breath.

That cut him to the quick as well and his arm around her shoulders grew tighter.

Sonia wasn’t quite done, however.

“Why would they want you to erase them?” she asked Gregor, her voice no longer flat and accusatory, it was soft and sad.

“I’ve no idea, my dear,” Gregor answered. “Lassiter, nor Cherise, shared the reasons behind their wishes. They just shared their wishes.”

She paused a moment before she continued her quiet interrogation.

“Earlier, you said you’d been keeping me safe for Callum,” she stated and inquired, “Did you know about all of this?”

The air grew heavy, this mostly coming from Callum and Yuri, but Gregor kept his cool.

“Yes,” he answered simply.

Sonia’s voice was barely audible when she asked, “Did my parents?”

Gregor came closer, his eyes flicking to Callum as if to assess the threat, as he would do considering he was approaching a wolf’s mate.

Callum lifted his chin and Gregor crept closer.

Quietly, he replied, “Yes, Sonny, they knew about your destiny. They wanted it for you. Very much so. They were…” he hesitated and said the next word as if it cost him to do so, “honored that you were to be his queen.”

Sonia pulled in a soft breath and her body grew tight for a second before she seemed to come to some conclusion, closed her eyes briefly, and when she opened them, she relaxed further into Callum.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” she asked, her voice still hushed, but there was an accusatory note threading through it.

“Many reasons, my dear,” Gregor replied, coming even closer. “Because you’re human. Because there was the possibility you weren’t safe. Because you needed to mature to a time when you could take all this in, understand it, not fear it, and accept your destiny.”

Sonia gazed at Gregor a moment, letting this sink in.

Then she looked up at Callum and noted, “Your family knew too.”

“We did,” Callum told her truthfully.

She looked at Gregor then Yuri then back to Callum and tried to pull away but Callum held her firm.

She gave in to his hold and remarked, “If I was eventually to live amongst you, it would have made it a lot easier for me now if your family had taken me in. I would have understood your culture. I would have grown up in it.”

She was right.

And she was far too shrewd.

Callum took in breath but it was Yuri who answered.

“You’d hardly have benefited from growing up with Callum and his family,” he clipped and when he went on, his tone was bitter. “Trust me, things would be different about now if you grew up thinking of Callum as a brother.”

Sonia, far too sweet for her own good, reacted to the bitterness, her face grew soft with understanding and sorrow, and she whispered, “Yuri.”

“And Sonny,” Gregor added, “your parents wanted you to grow up amongst your own. Humans. It was also their wish.”

This was an outright lie, considering they were vampires.

However, for thirty-one years, Gregor and Yuri had taken great pains to live the charade of a human life.

For Sonia.

And to protect her destiny, not only as Callum’s mate, but also for the reason why fate chose her to be at his side during this time.

She tore her soft gaze from Yuri and looked to Gregor. She pulled in a deep breath and then released a heavy sigh.

Callum decided Sonia had had enough. It was time for this to be over and therefore he announced, “Sonia’s had a stressful few days. Share why you’re here so we can get on with our night.”

Gregor looked to Callum and replied, “Actually, I’m here to speak with you.”

“So speak,” Callum ordered.

Gregor took a step back, glanced over his shoulder at his son, then back to Callum and invited, “Let’s walk.”

Callum’s eyes also went to Yuri, who was standing with arms crossed on his chest, but his face was carefully blank.

Gregor had something he wanted to share privately, not for Sonia to hear.

He looked back to Gregor. “I’ll not leave Sonia. It’s unsafe.”

“Yuri will stay with her,” Gregor replied immediately.

Callum looked at Yuri to see he was now smiling.

“I don’t think so,” he told Gregor. “We’ll go into the kitchen.”

“We’ll walk,” Gregor replied firmly.

“We won’t,” Callum returned even more firmly.

“Worried?” Yuri taunted and Callum tensed.

“Why can’t you just talk here?” Sonia cut in.

“I need to have a private word with your mate,” Gregor answered and it was Sonia’s turn to go tense.

“More secrets?” she queried irately.

“Business, Sonia,” Gregor retorted, his tone surprising Callum by turning positively fatherly and surprising Callum further when Sonia’s expression turned visibly daughterly. Gregor continued, “Between his family and mine. It’s late. I’m tired. I want to get this done and it won’t take long,” he turned to Callum. “Let’s walk.”

Callum didn’t move a muscle.

“Callum,” Gregor said on a weary sigh. “No matter Yuri’s behavior tonight, Sonia’s safe with him. He’d never do anything to cause a rift between our families.”

“That’s surprising, considering some of the things that have come out of his mouth tonight,” Callum replied.

“Take a moment and stand in his shoes,” Gregor retorted sharply, uncharacteristically losing patience.

Callum didn’t want to do as Gregor suggested but he couldn’t stop the visions from invading. The very thought of wanting Sonia and walking in on her naked and connected to a vampire made his blood start to heat.

“We’ll walk,” he muttered but his eyes went to Yuri. “Sonia’s going directly to bed.”

“I thought she and I could share a nightcap,” Yuri returned acidly.

“She’s going to bed,” Callum repeated, and not waiting for further response, he turned and guided her up the stairs.

She was unresisting and she was silent.

Until they hit the room.

“Callum—”

“Get in bed, honey, I’ll be back before you know it.”

She stood by the bed and crossed her arms on her chest, declaring, “I don’t like this.”

Callum didn’t either but he clearly had no choice.

There was something pressing on Gregor’s mind and Callum’s instinct was to find out what it was so he could deal with it, as well as everything else, and move on.

He buttoned the buttons on his shirt saying, “The longer we discuss this, the longer it will take for me to get this done.”

Sonia didn’t seem to be worried how long it would take, for she retorted, “I don’t know what part about ‘this’ I don’t like most. The fact that you and Gregor are taking a walk to talk about something you don’t want me to overhear. The fact that you stated I was going to bed when maybe I don’t want to go to bed. Or the fact that you led me out of the room without letting me say goodnight to the men who raised me.”

Callum studied his mate. He didn’t know her very well but he was beginning to recognize something about her. And that was, only Sonia could find three things about the vague concept of “this” to be pissed about.

“We’re not arguing now,” he stated decisively.

“Then we’ll argue later,” she returned.

With that, she climbed into bed, turned out the bedside lamp, and settled in, commanding, “Leave the Christmas lights on when you go.”

Callum sighed. Then he tugged on his socks and boots. He walked down the stairs, stopped, and looked at Yuri.

“She had a break-in the night I took her,” he informed the vampire and saw Yuri’s eyes flash before turning hard. “Kidnap attempt,” Callum went on. “The intruders were rough with her.”

Yuri’s voice was as hard as his eyes when he replied, “I hope you dealt with them.”

“I did,” Callum confirmed and he saw another flash, this one grimly satisfied, for he knew what Callum did to the two wolves who touched Sonia.

And Callum found himself grimly satisfied learning from that brief exchange that Gregor was correct. No matter Yuri’s foul behavior that evening, he’d never let anything harm Sonia.

He jerked his head at Gregor, grabbed his coat, and they walked.

Gregor was silent for a block and a half and Callum was losing patience when Gregor finally spoke.

“Something’s changed,” he proclaimed.

“And that would be?” Callum prompted when Gregor went no further.

“Lucien has found his lifemate,” Gregor shared and that news was definitely worth a proclamation.

Nearly every immortal race had lifemates.

Vampires didn’t believe in them. As they wouldn’t.

After they warred centuries ago, they wrote the copious laws they lived under. Amongst them they outlawed mating with mortals (and anyone else for that matter), and at that time forced all vampires to denounce their mortal or non-vampire mates. They’d even hunted, tortured, and executed vampires and mortals who refused. From that point, they’d only been allowed to mate with vampires which significantly lowered the chances of finding that one single soul in billions who you were destined to spend eternity with.

Therefore, they’d turned their backs on the idea of lifemates.

Callum grinned to himself that it was Lucien who’d declared a lifemate. That vampire had balls.

“Is it Katrina?” Callum asked, hoping it was not.

Lucien was bound to another vampire who went by the name of Katrina. Callum had also met her, she was stunning to look at but she reminded him of Mona.

“No, he was granted severance from Katrina,” Gregor answered, Callum nodded, and Gregor continued. “And then he had necessity…” Gregor paused, “to dispatch her.”

Callum felt his lips get tight.

Vampires officially bound themselves to other vampires but they had an out, called severance, which was like a mortal’s divorce.

Unlike the vampire vow, which clearly didn’t include their vows to their mates, Callum found the concept of vampire severance repulsive. Werewolves had nothing like it. A wolf would never sever from his or her mate.

Never.

However, if his mate was Katrina, Callum would consider it.

Nevertheless, “dispatching” her was beyond the pale, even for a vampire.

This idea was even more repugnant to Callum. The only thing he knew, knowing Lucien, was that if the deed was done, there was a valid reason behind it.

“Who is she?” Callum asked.

“A mortal,” Gregor answered and Callum stopped short.

He turned and stared at the vampire. “You’re fucking joking.”

Gregor had stopped too and regarded Callum. “I’m not.”

“Bloody hell,” Callum muttered, finding himself concerned for Lucien.

Vampires liked their laws, had lived under them for half a millennium, and not mating with mortals was top on their list.

Lucien and his mate could be hunted, tortured, and executed.

“Are they—?” he started but Gregor shook his head.

“Things became…” Gregor hesitated, “uncomfortable for a while. However, several members of The Council, including, obviously, myself, saw the wisdom of rescinding that particular edict. We were successful in convincing the others as well.”

Callum continued to study Gregor, keeping his face perfectly blank and his turbulent thoughts to himself.

It had begun. The Prophesies, or what he knew of them, were coming true.

Even the parts Callum had hoped would not.

Bloody hell.

“So the foundation of vampire culture has shifted,” Callum noted.

“It has indeed. Not only Lucien but all vampires are free to take mortal mates if they so choose.”

Callum’s jaw grew tight and he started walking again. Gregor fell in step by his side.

They rounded the block and kept walking together silently.

After some time, Gregor spoke again, and when he did so, he did it quietly.

“This means Yuri is free to take a mortal mate.”

Callum halted and turned instantly to the vampire, fighting the blinding fury that immediately started roiling inside him.

“Don’t say another word,” he warned.

“Callum, hear me out.”

“Absolutely fucking not.”

“Callum, hear me out,” Gregor repeated, but Callum started walking again and Gregor again fell in step by his side.

“She’s my daughter,” Gregor stated.

Callum stopped once more and turned to the vampire. “She’s your ward.”

“She was my ward, thirty-one years ago. That’s a long time, Callum, nurturing a mortal, watching her grow up, putting Band-Aids on her skinned knees, arguing with her about eating peas, and hoping you bought her the birthday present she wanted most of all.” Callum ground his teeth together, unaffected by the depths of Gregor’s heretofore unknown fondness for Sonia as Gregor finished, “Since then, she became my daughter.”

“And you’re saying you want me to renounce my queen, walk away from my fucking mate, so you can keep your daughter?” Callum bit out.

“I’m saying I don’t want her to die,” Gregor returned coolly. “Ever.”

Callum sucked in breath. He knew where this was going.

And he had no idea Gregor felt this deeply for Sonia but he didn’t disbelieve it. Gregor was not a warm male, not openly. But Sonia was a warm woman and it would be hard not to feel deeply for her, especially if you had thirty-one years of putting Band-Aids on her skinned knees and buying her birthday presents.

Gregor continued, “Yuri adores her. He has since the moment he laid eyes on her. He’ll take care of her. He’ll give her anything she desires—”

“You need to stop talking,” Callum warned.

Gregor ignored his warning and announced what Callum already knew, “He’ll give her immortal life.”

Callum sucked in breath.

Vampires fed on human blood, they had since time began. As their species developed, it also developed the capacity to protect its prey. Therefore, at the exact same time vampires fed, they released healing properties into their human meals through their saliva. These properties were extraordinarily strong, they helped the bite heal and the blood to regenerate swiftly.

And, if released into the bloodstream of a human regularly and for any length of time, it could do more. Regress aging, fight disease, greatly hasten the healing of broken bones, or, say, halt the effects of a deadly blood disease.

And, if released into the bloodstream of a human regularly and indefinitely, it could keep them young, vital, and alive forever.

“I know your people don’t understand this concept but this is my lifemate you’re talking about,” Callum growled.

Gregor’s tone was actually gentle when he replied, “Lifemate? Hardly, Callum. Her life, maybe. But yours?”

Callum’s skin started prickling again, even so far as stinging, and he felt his blood start to heat as the transformation started.

He hadn’t transformed without willing himself to do so since he was a young wolf who hadn’t yet learned control.

It took effort but he held it back and started walking again swiftly, his long legs eating the distance to round the block which would take him back toward Sonia’s house.

Gregor kept up with him, pace for pace.

“Think of her, Callum,” Gregor urged calmly. “What she’ll go through, aging while you do not age, knowing that—”

Callum cut him off. “This conversation is over.”

“Callum, you must think of Sonia.”

Callum yet again halted, turned on the vampire, and took a step closer, clearly aggressive and on the offense, bending slightly so he was nose to nose with Sonia’s guardian.

“I said, this conversation is over.”

Gregor held his cool and Callum’s scowl for long moments before he replied, “Fine, Callum, the conversation is over.”

“Don’t raise this subject again, not with me, not with Sonia,” Callum commanded.

Gregor pulled in breath through his nose then sighed and agreed, “I won’t raise it again, with either of you.”

“Yuri either,” Callum went on.

“I’ll speak with Yuri,” Gregor promised.

“I want your vow on that,” Callum demanded.

He watched Gregor’s eyes flash then the vampire nodded.

“You have my vow.”

Callum felt his body relax.

But he wasn’t finished. “If you and Yuri want to be a part of Sonia’s life, no matter how short it may be, you’ll not behave like you did tonight. Especially Yuri.”

“As you can see, my news was important,” Gregor returned.

“Call next time,” Callum gritted out.

Gregor’s jaw tensed but he nodded.

“Yuri speaks to her like that again, or to me when she’s within hearing distance, I’ll tear him apart, burn the pieces, and scatter the ashes to the winds.”

This threat was not idle, Gregor knew it and he knew Callum could carry it out.

Yuri might be a vampire with extraordinary abilities, including strength.

But Callum was king of the werewolves and his family didn’t rule because they were good at diplomacy. They ruled because they were the strongest, swiftest, most cunning, and by far the most ferocious warriors of all werewolves.

In Callum’s teeth, Yuri would be shreds.

A muscle in Gregor’s jaw flexed.

Then he defended, “This evening was difficult for Yuri.”

“That might be so, but the past four days have been traumatic for Sonia and the man she thinks of as her brother behaving like that didn’t fucking help.”

Gregor held Callum’s scowl for a moment before he conceded, “Your point is made. As I said, I’ll speak with Yuri.”

“Good,” Callum bit out.

Finished with their fucking stroll and definitely finished with their conversation, he turned and walked the rest of the distance to Sonia’s house. He didn’t speak the entire time nor did he do so when he entered her house and took off his coat.

He was striding to the stairs, not having deigned even to glance at Yuri, when he ordered, “You let yourselves in, you’ll lock up on your way out and you’ll never use your keys again unless you know Sonia and I aren’t in this fucking house.”

“Callum,” Gregor called.

Callum stifled a growl, stopped, turned to Sonia’s guardian, and regarded him in silence.

“We’ll expect to see Sonia during the holidays,” Gregor said quietly.

“We’ll see,” Callum replied roughly, put them out of his mind, and took the stairs two at a time.

Sonia was asleep on her side when he’d disrobed and joined her in bed.

He fitted his body to the curve of hers, and with his arm around her waist, he hauled her deeper into his still agitated frame.

He had a great deal on his mind but the only things catching his attention were the exact things he wished not to think about at all.

He had a vast number of friends who had found their mates. Claiming stories were shared freely and outrageously amongst wolves, both male and female, even bragged about. Fuck, it was such a common practice he even knew his parents’ claiming story.

Keen to find his connection, Mac had gone on a quest to seek his mate. It had lasted years, but Mac, with his usual patience, never grew frustrated.

He’d sensed Regan well before he was even in her vicinity. He’d tracked her and found her sitting on the steps in front of her parents’ cottage in France, eating an apple, and apparently, as reported to Callum by Mac, waiting for him.

Mac had seized her immediately, dragged her into the wood surrounding her parents’ cottage, and claimed her on the forest floor, clasping the chain he’d carried in his pocket for centuries around her waist before he’d done it.

Until the deed was done, Mac didn’t even know her name.

And that was the wolves’ way. Wolves didn’t fuck around.

The male seized the female, claimed her, and their lives began.

Although wolves didn’t shy away from talking about sex and mated wolves didn’t balk at unseemly (to other cultures) public displays of affection, Callum was grateful not to know the particulars of his mother’s claiming as he did some of his friends.

What he did know was that was it. Regan was then Mac’s and their lives together started there. Callum wasn’t a romantic and never imagined their relationship was perfect in the centuries they had together. But it was solid, it was strong, it was affectionate and tender, and last, it was loving.

What Callum had with Sonia might not have started like other wolves but with the way he felt the moment her hand drifted toward him last night while he was wolf then stroked his muzzle with drowsy affection. The way he felt when she threw the covers aside and offered to make him warm. The way he felt when she pressed herself to him and fell asleep. The way he felt when her eyes opened that morning and she stared at him with that sleepy look of love. The way he felt when she was connected to him and agreed she was his. The way he felt when the claiming was done and he smelled the beauty that was them. And, lastly, the way he felt through (practically) every moment in between, he knew it had ended that way.

Human or not, what he would have with Sonia was solid, strong, affectionate, tender, loving, as well as spirited, fiery, and unbelievably sweet. Sonia felt the pull of their connection. He knew it and she herself had declared she was his.

But now Regan was without her mate, and although his mother kept up a bright, cheerful façade, her eyes always betrayed her loss, sometimes her sorrow, sometimes even her confusion, as if she didn’t know what to make of a life without Mac in it.

That was to be Callum’s future. There was no way of escaping it.

And this thought didn’t make him anguished.

It enraged him.

So much, he felt the change, again against his will, coming over him, heating his blood, and tightening his skin.

Any other time, he’d give in to it, become the wolf and run.

But he couldn’t, not in bed beside Sonia, nor could he go outside and roam the city streets.

So he did the only thing he could do.

He fought back the change as he released his conscious human will to his innate wolfish instincts.

And his instincts told him his mate was finally at his side. She was there for him, to take care of him, ease his way, soothe his frustrations, and tame the beast within.

His hand slid over her hip, back over her bottom, between her legs, and he found her. Without easing into it or waking her, he manipulated her until he heard her breath become heavy in her sleep, her hips moving unconsciously against his hand.

And then she woke, already wet, her breath escalating sharply as she realized what Callum was doing, but she didn’t begin to fight.

Callum’s sweet Sonia began to moan.

Yes, asleep, awake, Sonia was fucking his.

His other hand pressed under her and between her legs. Taking over, he used the hand that had been working her to yank off her underwear and then it went back to start fucking her with two fingers.

Stroking deep, feeling her growing wetness coat his fingers as they drove again and again into the silk that was Sonia, his heart rate rose as his blood still boiled under his prickling skin, and his breath grew thick when he heard her moans turn to pants. She bent a knee deep to offer him better access and she wiggled out of her nightgown as her hips started jerking, demanding, slamming down on his fingers.

Christ, she was fucking glorious.

His cock hard and throbbing, he could wait no longer. He growled into the back of her hair, stopped fucking her with his fingers, and flattened his hand against her pubic bone. Using his other hand to shift her hips, he roughly pulled her up with the hand between her legs until she was on her knees and he positioned himself between them.

Then he entered her with a violent driving thrust, seating himself to the hilt.

He fucking loved it that she could take all of him. Even she-wolves couldn’t take all of him.

And he loved that she was made for him. Loved not only that she understood it, but also that it was Sonia who explained it to him.

He loved it that she loved to play, just as much as Callum, and just as rough and hard and hungry.

Like at that very instant, Sonia was on her knees with her sex offered to him shamelessly, her thighs quivering in joyful anticipation, and he gave her what she wanted. He pulled back, surged forward, and seated himself to the root yet again.

And again.

And again.

And he did it with a ferocity he would only use with a wolf, never a human. Fucking Sonia so hard her moans were sharp and curt, jolted to silence by his thrusts.

She came up on her hands, and when she assumed the position of a wolf, his need quickened, his strokes deepened, and she took him, all of his cock, all of his power, feeding the force of his hunger.

He reached his long arm out and grasped her thick hair, using it and his hand at her waist to grind her into him as he drove into her, harder, harder. It hit his consciousness she wasn’t only taking the pounding force of his thrusts, she was rearing her hips back to meet him.

He felt her sex quiver around his shaft and her breath start to rasp and he knew it was upon her.

He twisted his fist in her hair.

“Say it,” he demanded.

She reared back into his cock, her rasping breath turning to scratchy cries.

“Sonia, fucking say it.” His own orgasm was coming. He felt it building in his groin and he finally understood the panic she displayed the two times he had her because the force behind his oncoming climax seemed like something that would tear her apart.

Not of his will, his hand twisted again in her hair, forcing her neck to arch as she moaned deep in her throat, his own voice gravelly when he changed his command, “I want to hear you fucking scream it.”

“Wolf,” she whispered, then her sex convulsed around his cock with her orgasm and she did as he commanded, her words shrieked so loud, it wasn’t a possibility the neighbors heard, it was a certainty, “My wolf!”

At her words, he buried himself inside her silken wetness and exploded with a guttural snarl, feeling an intensity he’d never experienced. It was akin to the change to wolf, it was like exploding out of his skin.

And the power of it was startling and magnificent.

When he recovered, he released her hair but held her hips and continued to thrust gently inside her. She’d collapsed on her front, her head in the pillows, her hair fanning everywhere, her breathing still labored. She continued to offer her sweet ass to him as he tenderly plunged inside her, her hips angled up and pressing, encouraging, a loving invitation, a tender capitulation, a beautiful reminder that she belonged to him.

He glided a hand from her hip, over her bottom and up to his chain, which had slid high up her back, catching under her breasts. He tugged it down where it caught lightly on her hips so he could remind his mate of its presence, something he never wanted her to forget. Then, still thrusting, slower and slower, he trailed his fingers along the chain at the small of her back.

Her body shivered under his as the walls of her sex trembled delicately around his shaft.

Callum forced his hips into hers, taking her off her knees, pinning her to the bed on her belly, his cock still inside her, her legs spreading pleasingly wide to accommodate him.

The change wasn’t upon him anymore. His blood not boiling, his skin heated only from fucking his gloriously sweet, pretty, perfect little mate.

As was the reason for her existence, she’d sated him.

And, he was realizing with fierce satisfaction, she did it beautifully every fucking time.

Content, he placed his forearms into the bed at her sides to settle some of his weight off her body. He used his chin to shift her hair away from her face, and at her ear, pressing deep inside her one last time, he muttered, “My glorious queen, I told you we’d have a beautiful life, you and I.”

And, with his still hard cock buried deep inside his queen, Callum, king of the wolves, fell asleep while the Christmas lights from Sonia’s tree cast a glow on their connected bodies.