Chapter 148 Loyalties
❀ Maeve ❀
My gaze trailed from the piled top of Carmela’s lush hair to her gauzy, fancy heels.
There was something about everyone else being so well and happy while I’d been dragged through literal hell that grated on me.
I stared at her through a haze of red, my instincts seizing on her heartbeat.
“You look surprised,” she prattled on, oblivious to the darkness writhing within me. “As you can see, I’ve done well for myself.” Her eyes roved over me with haughty contempt.
My claws curled, my breaths slow.
“Like I told you that night before the ceremony, Maeve. You really should have remained in BlackBridge with your mother. Now look at you—ran off with a leech, got used, discarded, and spat back out into IronWolf where you’re no longer wanted.”
Her shoulders quaked softly as she laughed. The sound droned in my head as if from a distance while I mapped her pulse points, her arteries…
“You’re old news, love. I see Prince Bastian still has not marked you. You didn’t stand a chance before, and now you never will, with a face like that.” She stepped forward into my space. “You’ve become the lowliest of creatures, Maeve. An undead. Who will want you now?”
Carmela, the girl I’d foolishly sought to befriend before we’d come to IronWolf. She’d bullied me, climbed into my mate’s bed to steer him from me.
And at the slightest moment of my disappearance, had worked her way back into the fortress like a worm in rotting flesh.
I seethed with near mindless rage, my gaze locked on her like a predator on unwitting prey.
Somehow, I mourned the quickness with which she would perish if I were to lash out.
One slash across her neck would open the fountain so high, more blood would waste than I could drink.
And we were in the open. Anyone could interrupt.
Could I get her somewhere private? Have her at my mercy?
My throat bobbed in time with her pulse. When was the last time I’d drunk? Warm blood filling my mouth and sating this deep, dark hunger?
She was still so close to me, her breath hitting my face. “You’re staring awfully hard, leech. Do you want a taste? Too bad. My darling Leif would have your head if you so much as grazed my skin. He’ll make sure your kind disappears from this earth. Starting with you, as a favour to me—”
My hand flew to grip her throat. I squeezed.
A choking sound burst from her, her feet dangling above the ground.
Her eyes popped, veins rupturing under my fingers. Her claws flew to dislodge my hold, but I hissed in her face with a mixture of disdain and satisfaction.
I tensed to trace away—
Something, someone, grabbed me around the waist from behind and snatched me back violently.
My grip on Carmela’s throat never loosened, and both of us crashed to the ground.
No!
This was my victim, my prize.
“Let her go, Maeve,” a male voice rumbled. He tugged my hand from her throat, holding my snapping jaws back with his other hand.
One moment of miscalculation. I released Carmela to turn on the male ruining my kill.
Carmela jumped to her feet and backed away, her skin already covered in fur—she’d been in the process of shifting.
Now this male who dared interrupt would pay.
I turned to face him with all my wrath, claws flying.
Five deep grooves materialized on his face from eye to chin, welling up with blood.
“Maeve!” he growled. “It’s me!”
Revenge first. Introductions later.
I closed my fingers, stabbing my claws toward his chest for his heart—
His scent broke through the haze. Wide golden eyes registered in my brain.
His thick blond braid had wrapped around his throat, looking like a protective shield. He was on the floor with me straddling him, about to run him through without mercy.
Ashar.
The red haze diluted but didn’t clear.
“Why did you do that?” My voice was thick as gravel.
“I reckoned you’d regret it later,” he said, chest heaving.
“Regret?” I snapped. “And just who would make me?”
“Yourself. You’re angry now, but you’ll beat yourself up about it when you’re more… sane.”
“Are you insinuating I’m insane?” I hadn’t retracted my claws; the tips dented his flesh.
His eyes darted. “No, no, just for lack of a better word. But I know you’d regret killing me even worse.” He grinned.
A furious Crimson hybrid pinned him down, inches from killing him, and he literally grinned.
He broke through my haze completely. I stilled and retracted my claws.
Ashar released a long, relieved breath. I stood up, looking around. Carmela had disappeared.
“You shouldn’t have stopped me,” I said testily, keeping up the bravado. “She had it coming.”
“I bet she did.” Ashar rose to his full height, towering over me. “You’re freakishly strong, by the way. Hybrid perks?”
I shrugged.
“Welcome back, Princess Consort,” he said seriously.
I looked away with a scowl. “You don’t mean that. Not after what you witnessed.”
“You held back, despite the provocation and burning hatred—and a thirst on top of that. I don’t care what you think you are, as long as you know where your loyalties lie.”
He said it with such certainty that guilt assailed me.
Would he maintain his views if he found out I was not only a vampire, but the queen of them?
As it were, my loyalties weren’t reliable. I kept that to myself.
I sighed indignantly. “I’m sorry I almost killed you.”
“No complaints, darling.” His tone turned drawling. “With such beauty, I’d comport myself and take it.”
A smile teased my lips at the return of his flirty demeanor. I’d missed him, and the pack. The normalcy I’d tasted before my life had all but turned on its head.
I walked beside him as he headed toward my wing. “Have you seen Bastian?”
“He went to investigate the facility for any evidence of Graves’ death.”
“All day?”
“He should be on the return trip by now. He’ll be with you before nightfall.” Then he turned to me, puzzled. “Speaking of, aren’t you supposed to be in a coffin in the earth right now? You know. Bedtime?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes. But I’m still a wolf, you know. Sometimes I can go without, say, sleeping.”
“Fascinating,” he breathed, studying me.
My skin heated at his perusal.
His attitude to my change was surprising but encouraging. Did I dare hope others would do the same?
When we arrived back at the corridor that held mine and Bastian’s chambers, we stopped.
I stared at the doors with despair. I really hadn’t looked forward to returning.
But Ashar’s question about my internal clock had somehow coaxed my exhaustion to the forefront. I’d eaten a meal, but my body still demanded warm blood. More rest.
Much more rest.
It seemed the wrath burned through my energy with a vengeance. Hadn’t I’d fed just the night before?
I turned to thank Ashar, but found him staring down at me. “You should be patient with Bastian,” he said, voice soft. “He’s had a bad experience with vampires. You becoming one would test his resolve. But never doubt his affections for you.”
“Oh. Thank you,” I said.
Ashar gave me a curt nod and turned to leave.
Back in Bastian’s chambers, I shed my clothes once more and burrowed under his covers.
I’d known my new identity would put a strain on my relationship with Bastian. But to hear it confirmed sent waves of anxiety through me.
My mind, soul, and body craved connection so badly I could hug a tree.
I had two mates, but both so far apart.
Was I doomed to a life of misery?
No.
Even callous Carmela had paired with Commander Leif.
Everything that had happened had been beyond my control, and I refused to be punished for it.
Resolved, I decided to rest my head. If by the time I woke Bastian hadn’t returned, I’d assume he was avoiding me. Avoiding this new situation.
I would trace to Nikolai and demand the audience I was owed.
One way or the other, I’d seize the connection I deserved.