Chapter 145 Homecoming
❀ Maeve ❀
Victims. Ripe for the picking.
Wolves and mutts and hearts pumping vile, but warm blood. They must pay. Any being without the signature chill of death’s touch, and the blessing of the First Mother, must die.
KILL. RAGE. DESTROY!
I jerked awake, head thudding with the reverberations of a thousand battle drums.
No. Not drums. Heartbeats.
My senses were keyed up, my fangs throbbing with a vengeance.
I rose from the bed, the covers falling from my naked body.
Through my red-tinged vision, I noted the strange but familiar chambers.
A hearth burned in the room. With a hiss, I lunged for the lever and doused the embers.
The room was too warm for the wrong reasons.
Only the blood of my enemies should scorch my skin—
No!
What was I thinking?
I shook my head violently, claws snatching at my hair.
But the thirst was too great, the wrath all consuming.
My heart thundered behind my ribs.
I was in IronWolf. In Bastian’s chambers.
They must have moved me here in my sleep.
I spun wildly, breathing erratic.
Wait. I was standing, moving. No longer catatonic.
Then it dawned on me. Nothing was stopping my curse from manifesting now.
I sank my claws into my chest with a scream, as if to compress the wild instincts back in.
The curse of wrath caused the afflicted to attack anything that wasn’t my kind—vampire.
And I was in a pack. Surrounded by wolves.
My feet carried me to the door as if possessed, claws aching, body wavering.
No!
The curse was making me trace. To where? The midst of wolves? I’d slaughter them all!
I sank to my knees, pressing my palms to the floor to anchor myself.
No. I couldn’t let the wrath control me. I couldn’t let this curse destroy everything I’d built.
This was my pack. My family.
I was a wolf!
With that thought, a clarity spread through my veins, the urge to kill receding—but never gone.
There I knelt on the floor, panting. Sweat slicked my skin. That would have ended so very badly.
I needed to tell my mates.
My head snapped up. Where were they?
I reached through the mind link. ‘Bastian, I need you!’
No response.
My hand reached up to stroke my chest. No bloodgem. My aching heart would have called to Nikolai, summoning him.
I couldn’t be left unsupervised. Not here.
Then my body froze at the sound of footsteps beyond the wall.
Gaze locked on the doors, I waited.
A knock rattled the wood. .
“Princess?” a muffled female voice called.
“Don’t,” my voice seized on the word, “come in.”
She must’ve only heard the last part, because the door slid open.
Yara halted mid-step into the room. When her eyes razed over me, I wondered what picture I presented.
Kneeling on the floor, naked, sweating, looking constipated.
But yes, I was reigning in a massively unpleasant darkness writhing in my body, mind, and soul.
My eyes must burn with animosity, my palour stark.
Yet, she entered hastily and closed the door.
Bad move.
I’d controlled the rage, but for how long?
She reeked of wolf and blood, and my eyes instantly flew to her pulse point.
“Let me help you up,” she said, tucking her hands under mine.
“I’m fine,” I snapped, then instantly regretted it.
She was only trying to help.
She backed off, eyeing me warily, as I stood up on shaky legs.
The last time I’d seen Yara was before I’d awakened my wolf. She’d trained me ruthlessly until my muscles knotted and screamed for mercy, then she’d massaged those knots out of me in a tub full of scalding water.
My face flamed. Both times now, she’d witnessed me weak.
“I’m sorry for snapping at you. I’m still trying to settle in,” I whispered as I sat on the edge of the bed. I drew the covers up and wrapped them around my body.
“It’s alright. You can’t be blamed. You’ve suffered untold violation and trauma. I’m so sorry.” Her eyes were soft, tone placating.
“Where is Bastian?” I immediately asked.
“Last I saw, he’d gone to meet with the commander and council. His and your return has changed the trajectory of the pack.”
And probably not for good, I mused.
Bastian had brought a ticking bomb into IronWolf.
Coupled with the feral alpha, I wondered how the fortress was still standing.
“How about—” I hesitated.
I’d almost asked her about Nikolai. Silly. The vampire wouldn’t be here.
But the perceptive Yara sensed my interest.
“Nikolai hasn’t been seen ever since he brought you and Bastian. He traced both of you to the greenhouse, thinking it would be discreet, but a mating ceremony had been in full swing.”
Damn.
So all, or most, of the pack had witnessed a vampire tracing the prince and princess consort back to IronWolf.
No wonder Bastian had to attend court.
My shoulders sank.
In Veilmoor, there’d been pushback on account of my hybrid nature. Would I face the same here?
Definitely.
Maybe even worse.
The wolves wouldn’t condone a vampire hybrid for a princess consort and member of the pack.
Yara placed her hand on mine. “I can feel your distress. Don’t worry, you’re safe here.”
I peered at her. “You know what I am?”
“Everyone does. People are still in shock, but no one will dare cross you. Bastian would cut them down,” she said. “Besides, it’s not your fault. You were kidnapped and turned in a ploy by the scientist.”
I swallowed.
So they didn’t know I was a born vampire. I could go along with that version of events just to control the narrative.
“Thank you,” I forced a smile.
My stomach chose that moment to growl. Loudly.
Yara and I locked gazes.
“I’m sure Bastian will be back soon. Before then, is there anything I can do to help you?”
How would she react to me asking for her blood? I checked the impulse.
I would feed from my mates and my mates only.
The memory of the innocent human I’d drained in the facility dried my thirst right up. But my wolf half could use a treat.
“Yes, if you could please bring me a meal from the kitchens… something with a lot of protein…”
Yara tilted her head. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”
I nodded.
“We heard the explosion from even here. Bastian says there’s a chance Maverick Graves is gone for good.”
My skin pebbled at the mention of the name, my wrath at the ready. I took deep breaths.
“I wouldn’t bet on it,” I said. “But if he’s not, now he has nowhere to hide.”
Yara nodded. After a moment, she finally left.
The mention of Graves had made something inside me recoil.
The man was vile. Undeserving of breath. If he hadn’t died in that explosion, his life was mine.
At the rush of wrath from my gut once more, I quickly distracted myself from that feeling by taking in my surroundings.
The room was dim, the windows closed. Bastian probably thought I was in danger from the sun.
I rose to open the windows, letting the soft late-day sun spill in.
And Nikolai? After exerting himself to rescue me, he’d probably needed to rest.
Had he returned to Veilmoor? My heart clenched.
Though damaged, I still had a queendom to rule. Mates to reconcile—
Another string of knocks rapped on the heavy oak doors.
I turned.
“Maeve?”
My whole body tensed.
It couldn’t be.
My lips parted and closed like a fish out of water.
I stood naked as the knocks came again.
And again.
Until finally, she pushed it open.
Her scent flooded the room, and with it, a thousand memories I’d rather keep under lock.
My chest swelled with apprehension. And then hate.
Everything in IronWolf was testing my every last nerve. And with that thought—
Gwen Till, my liar of an adoptive mother, stepped into the room.