Party

 

“Callum, this is Jay and Jo, my neighbors from down the street, and their boys Jed and Jake,” Sonia introduced Callum to the family who’d just arrived at her Christmas Party. “Guys, I’d like you to meet my new husband, Callum.”

Callum heard Jo gasp and saw Jay’s eyes grow wide in shock and this was about the same reaction as everyone had when they met him.

His fingers, resting at Sonia’s hip, tensed reflexively.

Even though it was a human word that meant little to him as it meant little to many humans, he fucking loved it when Sonia called him “husband.”

And tonight she’d been doing that a great deal.

The family recovered from their surprise and the man thrust his hand out to shake Callum’s.

“We’re the ‘J’ family,” he announced. Then, strangely, to Callum’s way of thinking (but many things humans did Callum thought were strange), removed himself from the family legacy his wife clearly created by declaring with practiced embarrassment, “It was Jo’s idea.”

Callum’s eyes went to Jo. “It’s a good idea. My mother had the same. My brothers’ names are Calder, Caleb, and Calvin.”

Sonia’s body stiffened beside him, which he completely ignored. She did this often for reasons sometimes unknown, sometimes she’d tell him. He had decided in the three weeks he’d known her that if it was important, she’d tell him, which she didn’t have the least problem doing. The other times weren’t worth concerning himself with.

“You’re the ‘Cal’ family,” Jo declared brightly, giving her husband an annoyed nudge with her elbow.

“We are,” Callum stated proudly.

“Jed, Jake, your presents are under the tree,” Sonia said, her eyes fond on the two young lads. “Go and—”

She didn’t finish. The boys raced to the tree, both of them ending their dash dropping to their knees on a skid.

“They love your presents best every year,” Jo confided and Callum turned back to see she’d leaned toward Sonia. “It’s giving me a complex,” she added jokingly.

That night Callum learned many people loved Sonia’s presents best every year. Indeed that night Callum learned Sonia gave everyone presents they loved best every year. He’d never seen anything like her casual generosity.

Another in a myriad of ways he’d found in the three weeks he’d had his queen that she was absolutely fucking perfect.

“Um, it wasn’t my skateboards I saw them racing each other on, fruitlessly I might add, through the snow on the sidewalks on Christmas day last year,” Sonia replied on a smile.

“So!” Jay boomed, butting into the women’s conversation and glancing between the two of them. “This is unexpected, though we’ve seen a lot of activity at your house lately,” Jay informed them, eyes speculative, declaring openly his neighborly prying, something else humans did that mystified Callum. Wolves let other wolves be. If they wanted to share, which they usually did, they’d share. Uninvited inquisitiveness might get your throat torn out by another wolf’s teeth, a strong deterrent. “Married!” Jay continued. “That’s a big surprise. How did you two meet?”

Sonia tensed and opened her mouth to reply, but as usual that night, Callum got there before her.

“We didn’t meet. I saw her and thought she was the prettiest woman I’d ever laid eyes on. I grabbed her, carried her up to my cabin in the mountains, and spent three days talking her into marrying me. She agreed, we did the deed, and came back down the mountain.”

Callum liked this story.

He liked it because of the hilarious reactions of the humans.

“You…what?” Jay asked while Jo blinked at him, repeatedly and rapidly.

“He’s joking!” Sonia exclaimed, going directly into damage control, as usual that night after he told this tale, leaning into him and patting his stomach.

Now her pats were much harder than they were at the beginning of the evening but they were still puny, as female human pats tended to be. Or likely male ones, for that matter, though Callum had never been patted by a male, nor would he ever be.

“We’ve known each other forever,” she went on. “It almost feels like we knew each other since before we were born. I met him when I was seventeen. It’s been an off and on, long-distance relationship. I never knew it would come to this, but when he surprisingly asked me, I said yes right away. We decided not to waste any more time so we eloped.”

Callum liked Sonia’s story better.

What he liked best of all was that they were both mostly true.

Suddenly, Jo’s eyes bugged out, she leaned forward and grasped Sonia’s hand.

Callum stiffened.

This party was not in the least like a party a wolf would throw. For one thing, no one had shown up smashed. For another thing, even though it started an hour ago, still no one was smashed.

That said, he was enjoying himself immensely, mainly due to being with Sonia, who was taking great pleasure in entertaining her friends and being with the people who clearly cared about her.

However, he was having more than a little difficulty with humans, female and male, touching his mate. The wolf’s protective instinct of their mate was naturally strong. Callum’s protective instinct for his queen was stronger. Callum’s protective instinct for Sonia was immeasurable. You didn’t approach a wolf’s mate without permission, certainly not if you were a stranger to that wolf, and you definitely didn’t touch her.

Even so, tonight amongst Sonia’s people, he couldn’t give in to the instinct. If he had, her beautifully clinical living room would be littered with unconscious bodies.

“My God!” Jo cried. “Your ring is gorgeous!”

“Oh Lord,” Jay told the ceiling as his eyes had rolled there. “Here we go.”

Jo examined Sonia’s ring closer, not taking her eyes from it but still managed to bicker. “Well it is, Jay.” She yanked Sonia’s hand toward her husband, “Look at it.”

Jay didn’t look at Sonia’s ring.

He turned aggrieved eyes to Callum, seeking male camaraderie. “She’s always on me to buy her a bigger ring.”

He didn’t find his camaraderie as Callum replied abruptly, “So do it.”

It was Jay’s turn to blink, Sonia’s turn to stiffen, but Jo burst out laughing.

“I like him,” she said to Sonia, releasing Sonia’s hand and jerking her head at Callum. “If I didn’t like all that was him,” she boldly gestured to Callum from top to toe, “then I’d like his accent. If I didn’t like that then I’d still like him.”

Sonia relaxed and smiled at Jo, as did Callum, deciding that he also liked Jo.

“If you want to make nice with the men in the neighborhood,” Jay advised with forced joviality, “you might want to take a little care.”

“It’s highly unlikely Sonia and I will be settling here,” Callum announced.

Sonia went rock solid at his side and Jed and Jake, who were rushing up to them with their unwrapped presents in their hands, skidded to a halt, and the cheerful expressions on their faces melted.

“Sonny’s moving?” Jed, or Jake, Callum didn’t know which was which, whispered.

“We haven’t decided yet,” Sonia said swiftly with a radiant smile at the boy and quickly changed subjects. “So, what do you think? Do you like them?”

The boys, as children do, human or wolf, immediately remembered their presents. Their faces lit and Jake (or Jed), shouted, “They’re awesome!”

Then both boys ran forward and gave her awkward yet genuine hugs which forced Callum to release her.

This he didn’t mind. Children were no threat.

Further, he liked watching Sonia’s relaxed innate affection for the boys. Something which he hoped, very soon, he’d be witnessing between her and their own children.

“I’m hungry,” Jay announced and then made another try at friendly discourse with Callum. “Sonia always puts on the best spread.”

This, to Callum’s way of thinking, wasn’t true. Although there was a good deal of food and every bite-sized item he had tasted was appetizing, there wasn’t enough meat, there wasn’t enough cheese, and there wasn’t a single thing that required a knife and fork. Most people took a small, white, china plate and a napkin and that saw them through.

The minute Callum had seen the caterers laying out the fare, he’d been alarmed. Although no one but the other wolves in attendance had his reaction.

Wolves did not do finger food.

“You’ll undoubtedly not be disappointed this year,” Callum told Jay with truthfulness.

“Go in, help yourselves.” Sonia invited, giving Jed (or Jake) a playful cuff on the head and Jake (or Jed) a teasing shove on the shoulder as they walked toward the dining room table.

Then she seemed to be moving away from him, which Callum didn’t like, so he hooked an arm around her waist and curled her front to front. Her eyes lifted to his and he knew she was pissed.

He grinned.

Callum even liked it when she was angry. He was pleased his queen had spirit and fire. Immensely pleased.

Her gaze narrowed on his grin, and when her eyes came back to his she irately commanded, “Would you stop telling that story?”

“No,” he calmly replied.

She growled low in her throat.

Callum chuckled low in his.

Then she suddenly asked, “Who’s Calvin?”

He felt the pain slash through his gut, his arm tightened convulsively around her, and his grin died.

“My brother,” he replied tersely.

At his instantaneous reaction, sweet Sonia’s eyes were no longer narrowed, but searching.

Then, her voice much softer, she inquired, “Brother?”

“Died. In battle. Years ago.” His words were short and curt and he didn’t try to gentle them because this effort would be impossible.

Her body jerked lightly in his arm then it, too, went soft and settled against his.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

He was, too, more than he could say.

Callum didn’t reply.

“I shouldn’t have asked but I was surprised. You’d never mentioned him,” she told him.

“He was the youngest of us, we didn’t protect him. It’s not a subject we discuss.”

He felt her heave a fluttering little sigh and she lifted a hand and curled her fingers around his neck, murmuring, “Callum.”

He wished he’d had her years ago when Calvin fell. That sweet sigh, the touch at his neck, the feel of her yielding body pressed to his, the murmur of his name would have gone far in soothing the grief. He knew this because it was something it did now.

He gave her waist a squeeze and informed her, “It was years ago.”

“It’s still fresh,” she said softly.

“It’ll always be fresh,” Callum replied, his voice no longer clipped but quiet. “He was my brother.”

She slowly closed her eyes.

Then she wrapped her arms around him, pressed her cheek to his chest, and held him close.

He closed his eyes and marked the crown of her head with his temple, pulling her even closer.

His sweet, sweet Sonia.

He opened his eyes and saw they had a mixed human and wolf audience, all of whom were watching either avidly (the wolves) or covertly (the humans), and the fact made him exceedingly pleased.

One of her shop girls, he was thinking Kerry (or Mabel, he was too focused on Sonia calling him husband for the first time to pay much attention when they were introduced) approached.

“Um…” she began tentatively. “Sonny? The caterer wants to talk to you. Something about salmon in puff pastry? She sounded like it was urgent.” The girl’s mischievous eyes went to Callum, and Sonia turned in his arms to face the newcomer as she remarked, “Though, urgent and puff pastry to me don’t go together.”

He couldn’t agree more with her statement and Callum decided he liked this girl. You could see it in the light of her eyes, the fullness of her smile, the depth of her laughter, and the loving way she gazed at Sonia—she fed on life, like a wolf.

Sonia detached from Callum and mumbled, “Thanks, Kerry. I better go see what that’s about.” She walked away with a distracted smile in his and Kerry’s direction, muttering, “I didn’t even order salmon in puff pastry.”

Kerry’s eyes tipped up to him and she grinned.

Then her grin grew hard and she said, “I know you’re a big guy and you could probably break me in two.” This, Callum thought, though she couldn’t know, was exactly true. “But make her happy, will you? I don’t know why, though considering your story she was probably waiting for you to stop dicking around,” she informed him baldly (and courageously). “But she’s been alone a long time. She deserves to be happy. In fact, I don’t know if I know anyone who deserves it more.”

She gave him a look that clearly said she would not be happy if he didn’t do as she asked, even though she knew her displeasure would be lost on him.

Yes, Callum decided, he liked her a great deal.

She tilted her head to the side, the seriousness going out of her eyes, the hardness going away from her mouth, and announced, “One thing I can say for you, you convinced Sonny to have beer. Always wine and champagne and cocktails. A girl needs a beer. Which I’m getting right now. You need one?”

Callum shook his head but grinned at her.

Then, with another bright smile, she wandered off while Callum thought that he didn’t like her a great deal. He seriously fucking liked her.

He noticed Sonia rounding the dining room table and decided for perhaps the fiftieth time that night he liked what she was wearing. A skintight winter white turtleneck that had opalescent beading around the shoulders and down the chest which gave the impression of sparkling snow. She’d paired this with a matching slim skirt that came to her knees and cupped her ass so perfectly, it had to be made for her. She was wearing outrageously sexy, high, stiletto-heeled, gray snakeskin boots. She had her hair loose in a sleek fall past her shoulders and down her back but a pretty wide velvet ribbon was threaded through it, holding the thick locks away from her face.

She looked like a sophisticated snow angel.

His claiming chain hung outside her skirt (she always wore it visible, at his command) and her wedding rings sparkled on her finger. Both of which, even the rings, being his, Callum felt a fierce pride that she, Sonia, his mate, his queen, dressed in that fucking sexy outfit, was displaying for all her friends and his family to see.

The minute he saw her emerge down the stairs earlier that evening, he’d decided to try to find some way to fuck her with that skirt on.

If that failed, he was definitely fucking her while she was wearing those boots.

He knew every man in this room would envy him that opportunity.

And he fucking loved that.

She stopped at the outer end of the table and was talking with one of the women who came to cater her party. The woman was gesticulating wildly and Sonia was looking at the table in charming bafflement as Caleb slid up beside him.

“Stop flirting with Sonia’s shop girls, brother,” Caleb muttered jokingly, and Callum watched, his eyes instantly narrowing and his body immediately alert, as Sonia’s shoulders shrugged slightly up.

It was a fleeting, sparse movement, but it was there, and further, her head had slanted with a nearly imperceptible jerk, moving her ear to point toward where Callum and Caleb were standing.

“Cal?” Caleb called.

“Quiet,” Callum ordered, his enjoyment of the evening eroding.

Sonia had these kinds of reactions and often. Callum started noticing it the day after their first full day and night in this house.

A human might not notice but Callum definitely did.

Callum and Caleb were standing across the expanse of the wide living room, well away from the dining room table. Even without the distance, there was soft Christmas music playing, numerous people in the room creating a loud buzz of conversation, and Caleb had muttered his joke under his breath.

But Callum would bet his immortal life she could fucking hear it.

And now, with her ear pointed toward them, she was listening.

It wasn’t just her heightened sense of hearing, it was more.

For instance, when they played, it didn’t happen often, but she’d run her nose along the skin of his neck or the whiskers on his jaw. Once he’d even heard and felt her taking in the scent of his hair.

Female humans didn’t do that, not any that he’d met.

She-wolves, however, like wolves, did it all the time, during play or just affectionately with their mate. Your mate or partner’s scent was a massive aphrodisiac, but it was also another way your senses recognized a loved one. It was one of the reasons their mingled essence between her legs was so important. It was part of the claiming ritual for the male to coat the female with it, spreading their intermingled scent, a physical representation of their connection, to mark his territory after the claiming.

Further, he’d also noticed on more than one occasion Sonia tilting her head or making a face when she’d smelled something pleasant or unpleasant. Something Callum also smelled but not something any human would sense.

She had exceptional eyesight as well, something he noticed when she was sitting beside him while he was driving and she drew in a sharp barely audible breath when a car skidded on a patch of ice in front of them. The car, however, was far ahead. A wolf could see it, but a human? Not in his experience.

And there was the way that she liked to play. She certainly responded to him when he was gentle with her, but she came alive when he was rough. He’d never, not once in his experience, knew a human to get off the way Sonia did with Callum. He was careful to make certain all his partners enjoyed his play, but the depth of her craving, the intensity of her participation and her climaxes were unreal for a human, if not a wolf.

He’d put that down to their connection, but now he was questioning it.

Because she was still human.

Lastly, the way they fell asleep most nights, from the first night after the claiming.

It was common practice for wolves, especially wolf mates, to sleep while their bodies were connected. The male on top, the female on top, spooned, or the way Sonia liked to be connected to Callum, with Callum over her and Sonia on her belly.

It was just the wolves’ way.

The first time he’d done it, he’d been so lost in the experience they’d shared, he hadn’t thought of it. It was natural to him as wolf but he would never have done it with a human. Not only because his other human partners were not his mate, but because they wouldn’t find it comfortable and might even find it painful.

Later that night when he awoke still connected to her, his weight bearing her little body into the bed, he’d cursed himself. He’d drawn away and pulled her close. Since that first time, he always woke shortly after, and without the cursing, rolled to his back and pulled her to his side.

The next day after the first time, from their talk in the morning, and especially that night, he was surprised and delighted to find she liked it. They didn’t sleep that way every night, but if he ended their play fucking her on her hands and knees, they always did and it was always Sonia that lured Callum to her.

One night, she’d even demanded it. Hands flying back to grasp his hips, her sex convulsing tight to trap his cock, she’d slid her knees down and drew him with her between her spreading legs.

It had been the most arousing thing a female had ever done and he’d instantly had an overwhelming urge to take her again. So he did, up on his hands, his hips pistoning into her, her belly to the bed, her legs spread wide, her ass tipped up just enough so she could take all of him, and her moans and cries muffled by the pillow.

It had been, as it always was with Sonia, fucking magnificent.

What it hadn’t been was anything near to anything he’d ever had with a female human.

And none of it made any sense.

Callum, being proudly wolf and being royal, did not spend a great deal of time with humans. He didn’t avoid them, but his duties, the consistent skirmishes, and simply because he preferred the company of his brethren, meant he’d spent the vast majority of his life with wolves. Even though, if he caught the scent or liked the look of a female human he wouldn’t hesitate in taking her, until Sonia, he preferred she-wolves and they made up the bulk of his bed partners.

Perhaps this was something human he just didn’t know.

And what Callum didn’t know, he didn’t like.

Especially when it came to Sonia.

“Callum?” Caleb called, catching his attention as Callum kept his eyes on Sonia and he saw her force herself to relax.

She was hiding it. His instincts screamed it.

So perhaps it wasn’t just something he didn’t know. Perhaps it was something else entirely.

“Five minutes ago, you were wrapped in your queen’s arms,” Ryon noted, smiling as he approached the brothers. “Now you’re scowling. What’s up?”

Callum looked at his cousin.

Ryon.

His cousin, on the other hand, preferred female humans to she-wolves, though he didn’t shy away from wolves. He also enjoyed spending time in the human world.

If it was something Callum didn’t know, Ryon might be able to tell him.

He started to open his mouth but thought better of it when a memory pierced his consciousness and his eyes slashed across the room to the vampire.

Gregor was standing by the Christmas tree talking with one of Sonia’s neighbors who Callum had met and who Callum had not bothered to remember their name.

Two and a half weeks ago, Yuri had interrupted their post-play cuddle, and when Callum finally sensed him, his head jerked to the door at the same time as Sonia’s. He hadn’t been paying attention for obvious reasons, but looking back, she’d appeared deeply surprised that Yuri was there.

Not only because it was surprising, and tremendously rude, that Yuri would interrupt them, but also because she’d not sensed him until the last second, which was something, just as it was for Callum, that was unusual for her to miss.

And later Gregor had wanted a private word with Callum that Sonia couldn’t overhear and didn’t take him to another room.

He took him for a walk and didn’t speak for a block and a half.

Gregor didn’t speak because he needed the distance so Sonia couldn’t hear.

Callum sliced his eyes to Ryon and said, “I need to walk.”

Ryon’s head jerked and his gaze narrowed.

“Walk?” Caleb asked and Callum looked to his brother. “What are you on about? We’re at Sonny’s party. You can’t leave. This is important to her.”

It annoyed him that Caleb called Sonia “Sonny” when he wasn’t calling her “sis.” It annoyed him more that Ryon did it (without the “sis”). The only one who’d taken to doing this that didn’t annoy him was Regan.

There was no reason why this annoyed him, outside of the fact it was a familiarity that was greeted with radiant warmth from his mate and she returned it, having fallen into the habit of affectionately (and adorably) calling Caleb “bro” and Ryon “cuz.”

This annoyed him more because she didn’t use any endearments with Callum, even though he used them frequently with her. The only endearment she’d ever uttered was “wolf” and that was only when he was fucking her or playing with her.

He scowled at his brother and ordered, “Tell Sonia I’ll be back in a while.”

Caleb opened his mouth but Callum jerked his head to Ryon and walked directly to the entry, grabbed his coat, and strode out the door.

Ryon was at his side within moments.

Callum didn’t speak for a block and a half.

“Cal, what the fuck?” Ryon asked with irritation.

“The vampires are hiding something,” Callum answered.

“What?”

“About Sonia, they’re hiding something.”

“That’s mad, Cal, they can’t—”

Callum stopped abruptly, turned to his cousin, and asked, “Do you remember Miranda?”

Miranda was a she-wolf who had, regrettably, lost her mate. It had been centuries ago, Callum and Ryon were barely battle ready, much less battle worn, and Ryon, who shared features with Miranda’s mate, had been her grief-stricken rebound. He’d not been virgin but she’d still initiated him to many aspects of play and she’d done it thoroughly. She missed her mate and taught Ryon everything her mate had done to her. Ryon had been a grateful student and a willing replacement.

It was the first time either of them knew that the instinct to stay connected after play and into sleep was wolfish.

“What does she—?” Ryon started.

Callum cut him off. “Remember how she liked you to sleep with her?”

Ryon’s expression altered, it became roguish. He grinned and replied, “I remember a lot of things about Miranda. I still visit her from time to time.”

Losing patience, Callum resisted the urge to growl and yanked the conversation back on track. “Sleep, Ry, not play. Do you remember how she liked to sleep with you? On her belly, you over her, connected?”

Ryon kept grinning as well as missing the point. “She still likes that. One of my favorite parts about her, the reason I always go back.”

“Sonia likes it too,” Callum informed him tersely and Ryon’s grin died. “She likes it a good fucking deal.”

“You didn’t…” Ryon started. “You fucking didn’t…” he growled then spat, “Cal, she’s fucking tiny.”

“I know that,” Callum clipped. “I won’t go into how I initiated her to it but she likes it. Have you ever done that with a human?”

“In a sense but I’ve never slept like that,” Ryon bit back. “I’d fucking crush her.”

“Have you ever had a human play as rough as a wolf?” Callum pushed.

Ryon’s head jerked slightly in surprise at the question and he answered, “No.”

“Not even close?” Callum pressed.

“Not even close.”

“You ever play with a human as rough as you would with a wolf?” Callum persisted.

Ryon’s face grew dark with anger. “Please tell me—”

Callum got close. “She wants it that way, Ryon. She fucking loves it. You ever know a human, in your vast experience, who likes it like that?”

“That’s impossible, she couldn’t even take it.”

“She takes it, Ry,” Callum retorted. “She takes all of it.” Ryon’s eyebrows shot up at this shocking revelation. “And if I don’t give it to her, she begs me for it.”

“Jesus,” Ryon breathed, staring at Callum. “How lucky can you fucking get?”

Callum didn’t have time to share all the ways he was lucky to have Sonia, only some of them having to do with how she liked to play.

“That isn’t my point.”

“What’s your point?” Ryon asked.

“That’s not it, there’s more,” Callum informed him. “She’s got heightened senses. Not as heightened as a vampire or a wolf when he’s transformed, but as far as I can gather, it’s close to what a wolf has in human form.”

Ryon couldn’t hide his response, he reared back whispering, “You’re fucking joking.”

“I’m not and she’s hiding it and the vampires know about it. You ever experience anything like that with a human?”

“Never.”

“Sense it? Get the barest fucking inkling of it?” Callum clipped.

“No, Cal, not ever.”

Callum looked away, hissing, “Fuck!”

He didn’t like what he was thinking but he couldn’t help thinking it primarily because it was the only thing that made sense.

Callum had decided to give Sonia her Christmas before he launched his offensive to quell the rebellion.

He did this for two reasons.

One, he and his men had made a significant effort to hide the extent of their intelligence, something Calder had taken over gathering (and doing a great job at it, as normal) from the rebel leaders. The rebellion thought they were still gathering information and planning their offensive. They had no idea Callum’s attack was coming. They had no idea Callum knew as much as he knew and therefore had planned as thoroughly as he’d planned. They had no idea that Callum knew that they were still amassing and planning their attack for after the New Year. Fuck, even Nikolas, one of their chiefs, Callum had asked to escort his queen and his mother to the mall (under the constant, hidden, guard of four other wolves who followed their every move, that was) in order to hide his knowledge at the depth of their infiltration. Callum spending time enjoying his Christmas with his new mate would make them think he lost focus or wasn’t taking them seriously, and it would, he hoped, lull them into a sense of security.

And two, Sonia loved Christmas and Callum wanted Sonia to have her Christmas.

It was now the night before Christmas Eve. They were moving on the rebellion on Boxing Day.

There was a lot on his mind, including the fact that the rebels fought dirty and losses on both sides would likely be high.

He didn’t need this shit now.

His eyes came back to Ryon’s. “The minute this shit is over with the rebellion, I want you, personally, with no one knowing about it, to investigate Sonia’s disease. I want to know what it is. I want to know the incidence. I want to know what it does to her body. And I want to know exactly what’s in that fucking injection, how it works, and how long she’s been taking it. If you have to torture her fucking doctor, do it, but get me what I want.”

“You don’t think Sonny—” Ryon started and it took everything Callum had to beat back the urge to strike at Ryon even thinking what he was going to say, much less saying it.

“Not a chance,” Callum gritted out. “Every night I tell her it’s time to take her injection and every night I watch her eyes go blank. Sonia’s eyes are never blank, but to hide her distress at her nightly agony, they go…fucking…blank. And every night I give her that injection and every night it’s like she’s dying in my arms and not in a quiet pass behind the veil kind of way but in a tortured agonizing kind of way. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. It’s hideous. She wouldn’t do that to herself if she didn’t have to, no one would.”

“Then what are you thinking?” Ryon asked.

“She wouldn’t do it to herself,” Callum explained, “but a fucking vampire would do it to her.”

Ryon’s face went hard for he knew it was true.

Vampires could be ruthless.

“I don’t know what their game is or even if they’re playing it. But, if The Prophesies go down the way they’ve been foretold, then—” Callum stated.

Ryon cut him off. “I’ll investigate. Don’t jump to any conclusions before we know.”

Callum was a lucky wolf in many ways, not just having Sonia, but also a wise father, a loving mother, fiercely loyal brothers, and Ryon, far more even-tempered and level-headed than Callum, as his advisor and friend.

Ryon got closer. “Lassiter wanted his daughter raised by them instead of us and you know why. Mac agreed and made the allegiance. And Cal, you know, Mac was no fool.”

Callum looked away, lifted his hand to his neck, and gave it a squeeze.

His father was anything but a fool.

Then it hit him.

Callum dropped his arm and looked at his cousin. “Do you remember the conversation I had with Gregor that I told you about?”

“The info about Lucien?” Ryon asked.

Callum’s mouth went hard at the memory and bit out, “And the rest.”

Ryon nodded. “I remember.”

“Gregor doesn’t want to lose her, thinks of her as a daughter, or at least he wanted me to believe that and he was pretty fucking convincing. Perhaps this injection isn’t for a deadly blood disease. Perhaps it isn’t for some nefarious reason, doing…whatever, to Sonia, my queen, a treachery against the alliance. Perhaps it’s vampiric. Perhaps they’ve concocted something that will lengthen her life.”

“Vampire saliva is pretty powerful but it doesn’t heighten senses,” Ryon commented.

“And humans don’t react to vampire saliva the way Sonia reacts to that injection. They aren’t injecting her with that, it’s something else. Wolves don’t need medicines and I can’t say I’ve a lot of experience with witnessing humans taking treatments, but I can’t imagine their medicines regularly cause those kinds of reactions.” Callum’s gaze turned intense on his cousin. “When I say it’s bad, Ryon, I mean it’s bad.”

Ryon’s eyes flashed briefly before his thoughts turned and they gentled. “Poor Sonny.”

This was said with feeling, too much of it. More than would be offered to Ryon’s queen, even a member of his family. Callum again wondered at it at the same time he didn’t like it.

However, he’d have a word with his cousin later, after all of his problems were sorted.

“The minute we deal with this fucking situation in Mona’s territory, I’m taking Sonia to Scotland,” he announced.

“Of course.”

“I want any time she spends with Gregor or Yuri or any vampire monitored,” Callum ordered.

“It’s done.”

Then Callum said what he had to say so he could let it go and not leap out of his skin, into the wolf, and tear Gregor and Yuri asunder the minute he walked back into Sonia’s house. This would cause an immortal incident which could tip the scales of The Prophesies far sooner than expected.

“I find out they’ve been doing that to her then deceiving her to doing it to herself for thirty-one years, I swear, Ry—”

Ryon cut him off yet again, stating fiercely, “You’ll have my teeth at your back.”

They held each other’s gazes for several long moments, Callum trying to decide if Ryon’s loyal declaration was for his benefit or Sonia’s.

Then Callum let it go and nodded.

“Fuck, I wish I could run,” he muttered curtly, turning back toward Sonia’s house. “It’s too long I’ve spent in this goddamned city.”

“You’ll be home soon,” Ryon replied, walking beside him. “And when you go, you’ll be taking back your queen.”

At least that was something to look forward to, so much so, Callum looked to his cousin and smiled.

Ryon returned his smile and stopped walking. Callum stopped with him.

“Speaking of your queen…” Ryon started and trailed off.

Callum automatically braced.

Ryon studied him a moment before asking, “Is everything okay with you two?”

Callum relaxed and grinned before stating, “Perfect.”

And they were perfect. Not just their play, which happened as frequently as he could manage, and Sonia always greeted it with eagerness, but everything that was them was perfect.

They’d settled in a rhythm of life that pleased Callum very much.

He allowed her to go to Clear for two or three hours a day, but kept her close any other time. Mostly in his lap, liking her near, liking her scent. The sound of her steady breathing. The sight of her elegant profile if he just twisted his neck to look at it. Her sweet ass snug in his lap, his chain within reach so he could toy with the charm she loved so much and he could have the physical reminder of their bond in his fingers.

She didn’t mind this, had settled into it nicely, in fact. As her reward, he often allowed her to do things around the house or go shopping with his mother or, if they were at the mansion, to wander freely so she could talk to and get to know her wolves. This last he’d noted, as Sonia was very sociable and sweet, she’d charmed the lot of them, as Callum knew she would do.

She would often stiffen and inform him of what displeased her (or not, depending), but she was Sonia. That was her way.

They did not fight as they had in the beginning. She had clearly accepted her destiny, in fact, she’d embraced it.

Ryon’s eyebrows went up, taking Callum out of his thoughts when he inquired, “You’re certain?”

Callum turned fully to Ryon and demanded, “What are you driving at?”

Ryon blew out a sigh and noted, “Regardless of her heightened abilities, she’s still human.”

“Yes, Ry, she’s still human,” Callum remarked with strained patience.

“And female humans are not like she-wolves.”

“No, they aren’t.” Although Sonia, Callum thought, in many ways very much was.

“Cal,” Ryon went on patiently. “Ours is a whole other world for her. A different culture, all of it but mostly the way a male is with his mate, what he expects of her. I’ve been watching Sonia, she’s settled quickly, too quickly. It’s strange for a human and it makes me uncomfortable.”

Callum felt his gut get tight. “What makes me uncomfortable is you watching her.”

Ryon’s body went visibly solid and his voice was threaded with angry affront when he whispered, “You insult me, my king.”

Callum studied his cousin then he reminded him, “She’s my mate.”

“Understood,” Ryon replied. “More than probably you know.”

“What does that mean?”

“That means we’ve grown up together, closer than brothers, and I’ve wanted this for you for over three hundred years,” Ryon clipped. “And I don’t want you to fuck it up.”

Suddenly angry at Ryon’s unwelcome and unfathomable implication, Callum leaned in and declared, “I’m not fucking it up.”

Ryon pulled in an annoyed breath and explained, “Cal, she-wolves don’t hide their emotions. You know where you stand. They’re pissed, they come at you. They feel playful, they jump you. They need affection, they nuzzle you. They want something, they ask for it and you get it for them. Female humans are not like that. They communicate in a kind of…a kind of…” he hesitated before snapping out the word, “code that only they understand. Half the time, you’ll never have any fucking clue what’s going on in their heads. Female humans’ minds are like the answer to the meaning of life, impossible to decipher.”

“Sonia has no problems sharing what’s on her mind,” Callum informed his cousin, wondering, not for the first time, especially if all he said was true, why Ryon bothered with humans.

“You might think that, but with a female human you’ll never know for sure,” Ryon retorted.

“That’s ridiculous,” Callum scoffed because it bloody well was.

“That’s human,” Ryon returned. “I know you haven’t enlightened her about the wolf within, which I understand and you know I agree she should be in the bosom of our people when that knowledge is shared. But, have you been instructing her?”

“In what?”

“In everything,” Ryon replied. “Jesus, Cal, it’s like moving to a new country but without the physical location changing. Everything is different. Our traditions, our personality traits, our behavior.” He threw his arm out in the direction of Sonia’s farmhouse. “That party, for instance. That is not a wolf party, and as delightful as her outfit is, that is not how wolves dress.”

He came closer to Callum and dropped his voice lower.

“Everything we are, she needs to understand. She may be experiencing things that are confusing her, even alarming her, and she’d never let on. She’d just let them build and build until it either explodes or turns to resentment, against you, our people, her new life. Even the smallest thing, Callum, she might not understand. Female humans need communication, a lot of it. It’s fucking annoying, but trust me, you’re better off giving it to her than suffering the consequences.”

Callum stared at his cousin, disliking (intensely) what he was hearing, but also smart enough to know Ryon knew what he was talking about. He’d spent a lot of time in female human company whereas Callum took what he wanted and moved on. He’d never played their games, but he knew they had them.

And furthermore, this conversation, and Ryon’s coaching, went a long way to dispel his disquiet at Ryon’s attention to his mate.

“Fucking hell,” Callum finally muttered then yielded, “I’ll talk to her.”

“Smart,” Ryon nodded.

Callum sighed at adding yet another issue to the list he would have to sort.

Then they walked together back to Sonia’s house.

After they’d taken off their coats, Ryon made his way instantly to Caleb while Callum went to Sonia. She was standing amongst a group of her friends, listening and smiling, and he approached her from behind.

He knew she knew he was there because he saw, nearly imperceptibly but it was there, her body grow tight before he was even close. Understanding it now, he’d likely notice these actions far more and he began cataloguing them.

He used his smile aimed at her friends to hide his unrest, came up to her from behind, and slid an arm around her waist, placing his mouth at her ear.

“It’s time for your injection, baby doll,” he muttered in a voice for only Sonia to hear.

He was pleased he couldn’t see her eyes, even though he felt her body tense. Seeing her eyes go blank, night after night, was like dying a little death.

She turned to him, her gaze at his shoulder, and nodded, murmuring her apologies as he led her away, up the stairs, to the bathroom.

She waited obediently as he loaded the syringe.

When it was ready, she turned her back to him, one of his arms slid around her belly as he instructed gently, “Lift your skirt for me, little one.”

She shimmied it up her hips, as she did so, exposing a pair of sexy white lace panties he’d ordered her to go with his mother and buy (about a second after he’d gathered her unattractive undergarments and thrown them in the trash). She was also wearing lace-topped, thigh high stockings.

Regardless of his chore, he still felt his groin tighten at the sight.

Swiftly, so as not to prolong her apprehension, he administered the injection.

Facing the mirror, the minute the toxin entered her body, both of her hands flew out to clutch the basin and her head lowered. She sucked in a tortured breath and her pretty face twisted with suffering. Callum dropped the syringe into the sink, yanked her skirt down, and wrapped his arms around her, trying to tear his eyes from the mirror that exposed her pain, and failing.

His body absorbed the tortured shudders rending their way through hers until she unconsciously dragged in calming breaths as the pain slowly burned itself out.

When it was over, she lifted her head until it rested on his shoulder, her cheek against his. His chin was lowered to her and her hands glided along his forearms until her arms were crossed and her fingers curled around his wrists.

“I even feel it in my hair,” she whispered, the ghost of pain veining her voice, and Callum’s scalp stung unpleasantly at hearing the comprehensiveness of his mate’s pain.

He buried his face in her neck.

“Baby doll,” he murmured there as there was nothing more that he could do.

And he fucking hated the feeling of powerlessness that was thrust on him night after night.

Her fingers tightened on his wrists and she said softly, “It’s over, Callum.”

It wasn’t over. It would happen again the next night and the night after that.

If it was indeed a disease, it would happen until he stood beside her burning pyre.

He didn’t respond, just tensed his arms, drawing her closer.

“We have guests.” she reminded him.

He took in breath through his nose, her scent, already surrounding him, intensifying, and his body relaxed at the smell and her uttering the fact that they had guests.

She did not say “I” but “we.”

Callum liked that.

He nodded and lifted his head, his eyes catching hers in the mirror where she, who’d endured it, gave him, who’d only witnessed it, a reassuring smile.

Then he stood holding her while she reapplied her lipstick and unnecessarily rearranged her thick beautiful hair.

He led her downstairs and stood at her side as she entertained, having lost his enjoyment of the evening, and as it continued finding himself losing his patience as his need for her grew.

She, however, continued to enjoy it and that was the only reason Callum could endure.

It was late. The caterers had swept away their wares, leaving the house tidy, but Sonia still wandered it. Finding a discarded napkin here, the remains of wrapping paper there, and throwing them away while Callum shut down the house for the night.

When he guided her up the stairs, he led her to the bathroom, deciding that he’d give them a better memory of a space that had become, for him, as it had to be for her, dreaded.

At first she was confused and hesitant but that melted, as Sonia always did, when he gently placed her hands on the basin, ordered her to keep them there, and yanked up her skirt. He pulled down her panties and she stepped out of them before he commanded she open her legs. He saw, reflected in the mirror, her face grow hungry, and his need for her deepened before she did as she was told, and at once, as her reward, he slid his hand between her legs from behind, giving her what she craved.

Callum watched her in the mirror thinking distractedly, because he so liked what he saw, that he’d have to have a room paneled in mirrors at his castle in Scotland. The vision of her growing excitement erasing the earlier painful one as he brought her to orgasm with his fingers. Then, while she was still moaning her uninhibited release, he watched as he entered her and fucked her, her skirt bunched at her hips, her sweet ass willingly tilting up to take all of him. And he kept watching as he brought her to orgasm again moments before he had his own.

Then, keeping Sonia impaled on his cock, he gazed in the mirror, her hooded eyes, he noted, doing the same, as he slowly disrobed her, baring her beautiful little body still intimately connected to his. Once she was naked against him, he took his time running his hands along the skin of her midriff, her belly, her sides, and up to her breasts as he, and Sonia, watched the trail of his hands, and as he, alone, felt her sex shudder around his cock in response to their travels.

And he held her, his forearms crossed, his hands cupping her breasts, his thumbs idly stroking her nipples, his shaft still hard and buried to the root, as he memorized the look of them together. The smell of their mingled essence. The beautiful feel and sight of all that was her.

She twisted her neck, and with her lips against his skin, he watched in the mirror as she whispered there, “How do you stay so hard so long?”

“Sensory incentive,” he replied softly (and truthfully).

She emitted a fluttering sigh.

He smiled.

Then he lifted her off his shaft, turned her, seated her on the basin, and lazily pulled off her boots and slid off her stockings.

He carried her to bed, his sweet little Sonia, took off his clothes, joined her, and pulled her close, on their sides, his face in her hair, her ass snug in his crotch, his body pressed to the length of hers.

His voice was gentle when he asked, “Did you have a good night, my little one?”

“Yes,” she whispered sleepily, hesitated, then inquired, “Did you?”

“Yes,” he answered and his arms gave her a squeeze. “I liked the way it ended the best.”

“Figures,” she mumbled seconds before she fell asleep.

He should have felt contentment, but these were his worst times. In the dark, Sonia near, her body relaxed in his arms. These were the times he knew he’d miss most when she was gone.

He didn’t seethe against her aging, the onset of wrinkles, her gorgeous hair turning gray.

He seethed against the knowledge that one day, she’d be gone.

As with every night since the claiming, King Callum fell asleep with his queen, forced to come to uneasy terms with this vile knowledge of his future.