Chapter 23

King resisted the urge to kick the door off its hinges as he strode out the front of the Bonavich vampire coven’s French Quarter home with Ari and Delphine, two of his lieutenants, on his heels. He was barely containing his rage as he strode down a long, brick walkway toward the sidewalk.

As he reached the end, his eyes widened to see Aurora waiting there, her legs crossed at her ankles as she leaned against a parked car. There were humans and supernaturals alike milling down the street, some heading home, others searching for the nightlife.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, more than surprised to see her. Don’t ask stupid questions, his wolf snarled. Just be happy she’s here.

She shrugged and flicked a quick glance at Delphine behind him.

He gritted his teeth and looked at Delphine. “Really?”

She shrugged and clapped him on the shoulder once before heading off with Ari, who simply gave a half shrug. The big male rarely talked. He just got shit done, something King appreciated.

“Delphine texted me. Said you guys hit another dead end, and I was in the area. Figured you could use someone to vent to.” Aurora fell in step with him and linked her arm with his, guiding him down the sidewalk.

His wolf immediately settled at the feel of her touching him. “Delphine needs to—”

“She was just doing her damn job. You’re her Alpha and you’re stressed right now. So she texted me. How is that a bad thing?”

He shoved out a breath, but didn’t respond. It wasn’t a bad thing, not exactly. But the fact that his packmate knew that being around Aurora would calm him down was important. He wasn’t used to depending on someone, not on this level.

Of course he depended on his pack, but at the end of the day he was the one who made the hard decisions. They all looked to him to keep order, to make the right decisions. Right now he was hunting down witches who were killing and draining humans and vampires. And even though he’d tracked them with his best trackers, he still couldn’t find them. He might need to call Dallas again and see if she had another way to locate them.

“So what happened?” she continued.

He just grunted again.

She let out a sound of exasperation. “You’re killing me, Smalls.”

He shot her a confused look. “What?”

Her eyes widened slightly as she looked at him. “You know, from The Sandlot?”

He lifted a shoulder.

“Oh my God, you’ve never seen that movie?”

“My life has not allowed for a lot of movies.” For the most part he didn’t get the attraction to cinema. He was too busy running a pack. And now he was trying to keep the city from burning so they could actually rebuild with the hope of coming out stronger on the other side.

“Have you ever seen The Goonies?” she continued, staring at him as they headed down the sidewalk.

“I don’t even know what that is.”

She blinked at him. “What about Deadpool? That’s newer.”

He just lifted a shoulder.

Now she stared at him in mock horror. “Well you’re in luck since we can’t stream anything anymore. Because I have those DVDs with me. We’re going to have a movie night in the near future… Once these psychopaths are found and brought to justice.”

Yeah, and that better be sooner than later. He realized he had no clue where they were even going, but being with her was taking the edge off. So was this ridiculous conversation. Deadpool sounded vaguely familiar at least. “You brought DVDs with you from St. Augustine?”

She shrugged as they reached a crosswalk. “My sister packed up my entire room and she knew to bring the important things.”

Aurora had been kidnapped over a year ago, held prisoner for the magic blood in her veins. He hadn’t known her then, hadn’t known Aurora long at all, though somehow it felt as if they’d been friends for a lifetime. Her sister, Star, had launched a rescue mission, and once she’d saved her, they’d ended up in New Orleans a couple months ago after a long-planned escape. “Then I will watch these ridiculous movies with you.”

She let out a little huff. “Why do you think they’re ridiculous?”

“How is something called The Goonies not ridiculous?”

“Friend, you are going to be proven so wrong.” She shook her head as they turned onto a side street filled with bars and restaurants currently bustling with activity.

He was glad to see it, glad the city was alive tonight. It was a delicate balance, but people had to be able to go out, to see friends and feel as if the entire world hadn’t been destroyed. It was a psychological thing and it wasn’t just the humans but shifters as well. Shifters needed pack, needed contact. Needed to know life wasn’t just about survival, blood and death.

A few patrons sitting outside the first bistro they passed nodded and waved at him, but more lit up and waved at Aurora. She hadn’t even been in New Orleans long, but she was this bright, shining beacon people gravitated to. He understood because he was one of those people. After that video feed of her killing those rogue dragons with her wild phoenix fire, people were more than curious about her.

“Come on, let’s grab a drink,” she said as she dragged him into a hole-in-the-wall bar and restaurant called The Fried Alligator.

The bar was full but as soon as he stepped inside, half a dozen people slid off their barstools to make room for him.

He nodded his thanks and sat down with Aurora, who took over and ordered for him.

He shot her a sideways glance. “Tequila? Really?”

“Just do what I say,” she said as she glanced at the menu and ordered food for them as well.

No one told him what to do. Ever. Even when he’d been a pup, he’d exasperated his mother with his Alpha tendencies. But somehow he didn’t mind it with Aurora. She wasn’t challenging him, she was just being his friend. And he valued her friendship. “You’re incredibly bossy tonight,” he muttered, no heat in his tone.

“Well you’ve been making decisions nonstop and busting your ass for who knows how many days in a row. So I’m making things easy for you. So eat and drink what I say and relax for ten freaking minutes.”

The bartender, a man named Antony Carter who he’d known most of his life, simply snickered and took the menus from Aurora. “Sounds like you’ve got a smart female here,” he said as he tucked the menus away.

King wasn’t sure how she’d been right about the tequila, but as he tossed the shot back he realized, yep, this was what he’d needed. It went down smooth. So did the second shot.

“Can I help with the tracking?” Aurora asked as he pushed the two shot glasses away.

Right now his best trackers were still searching for the witches. “No, but thank you. I recently called in a favor from a friend.” Javier, brother to Cynara, who ran a huge club downtown, had just arrived. In the morning he’d be taking over for King’s other trackers if they didn’t have any luck. King planned to head back out there soon as well, because he wanted to stop by a small witch coven and see if they knew something. He’d already stopped by a week ago, but this trip was going to be a surprise.

“Good. I have an idea of what will take your mind off things. We can do it in your training area.”

He shot her a surprised look. “Do what?”

“Oh, you’ll see. Bring that big sword of yours.”

His mouth kicked up. “Is sword a euphemism?”

She blinked, her mouth falling open, then laughed, the sound deep and throaty, wrapping around him like the sweetest embrace. “Nope. Trust me, you’ll like what I have planned. So will your pack.”

“They could be your pack,” he murmured quietly enough for her ears only.

She stilled and looked at him in surprise. “I’m not a wolf.”

“So? There are plenty of other beings in my pack other than wolves. Pack is about love and loyalty. That bond is more than blood.”

She went motionless for a long moment and he wondered if he’d made a mistake asking her. There was so much about her he didn’t know, so much about her kind he didn’t know.

Finally she spoke, her words measured. “You obviously know that my kind are rare. It stands to reason that others could come after me in the future. Just like before. I am out to the world now. I can’t hide what I am and I don’t want to, regardless.”

His wolf flared to the surface so he lowered his gaze, not wanting her to see the rage in his eyes. If someone came after her again, tried to take her for her blood or any other reason, he would destroy them. Rip them apart limb by limb. And he would enjoy it. No one touched what was his. No one touched her.

He cleared his throat, feeling more in control now. “And?”

“And, I’m just saying that I might be a threat to your pack.”

Now he laughed as Antony set two small plates in front of them—fried alligator for him and fried jalapenos for her. “If someone comes after you, we’ll take them out. Just think about the offer,” he added, not wanting to pressure her. Because he didn’t want her to say no.

“I will. Thank you,” she said as Antony slid two more plates in front of them. Greek salad for her and a medium-rare burger for him—and she’d told Antony to hold the onion on his, just the way he liked it.

Something shifted inside him then, something he didn’t want to acknowledge, but couldn’t deny. His wolf had claimed Aurora—and so had he.

* * *

“I’m not going to battle you,” King murmured for Aurora’s ears only. Now that they were back to his compound, she’d told him what she planned two minutes ago.

And it was nuts.

She snorted as they strode through the wide-open gates to his compound. His people owned a city block in the Quarter and most of the structures were connected. But they also owned houses on a few other blocks throughout the city, including a condo complex in the Irish Channel and a mansion in the Lower Garden District. He liked having his pack dispersed throughout the city. More eyes and ears everywhere was a good thing.

Right now they were at the Lower Garden District compound, and since it was a nice night most of his packmates were out in the yard. Just great.

“Not battling. It’s practice. I’m simply going to throw lightning bolts at you and you’re going to block them with your sword. You’re a freaking tornado. You need to let the steam off and this is the way to do it. Otherwise you’re going to lose it with one of those dumbass vampires and create an incident.”

He shot her a sideways glance. “Did you just call them dumbasses?”

“Everybody is a dumbass once in a while. Myself included.”

“Am I ever a dumbass?”

“I have never witnessed it firsthand, but I’m sure you have been. I’ll just ask Delphine or one of your packmates for examples.”

He snorted slightly as they strode up the long, curving driveway lined with thick oak trees dripping with Spanish moss—some older than him.

“You need to change or anything?” she asked, eyeing him.

He wondered what she thought when she looked at him then he shoved that thought back just as quickly. They were just friends. He wanted more but she’d never given any indication that she would offer him anything other than friendship. The truth was, her friendship was worth more than…anything.

“I don’t know if this is a good idea,” he said instead.

“Are you scared?” Then she made an actual clucking sound. Like a chicken.

His eyes widened as he turned to stare at her. “Are you clucking at the Alpha of New Orleans?”

She clucked again and then giggled kind of manically.

He’d never seen this ridiculously playful side of her before, not fully. And he liked it. Despite the tension that seemed to live in his shoulders, he couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face.

“Is King turning down a challenge?” Marco, one of his youngest wolves, walked out of the shadows in human form, a mischievous glint in his eyes. He was a warrior, not a beta, but he wasn’t challenging King.

“I’m pretty sure he did.” Aurora’s grin was infectious.

Sighing, King stripped off his jacket and tossed it to Marco. “Let’s do this.”

“So what’s the challenge?” Marco asked.

“It’s not actually a challenge,” Aurora said as they started across the lawn where various shifters were patrolling or just relaxing. “He’s just going to deflect my lightning bolts with his magic sword to blow off some steam.”

Marco let out a low whistle. “Oh, hell yeah. The whole pack will want to watch this. I’m gonna take bets on how many he can hit.”

“You gotta do better than that,” Aurora said. “It should be more along the lines of how many he can hit per minute. Otherwise that’s just sad because you know he’s going to hit all of them.”

“I’m right here!” King said, even as he fought another grin. When he was around her, he felt decades younger. He didn’t have the weight of his people, his city, on his shoulders. He was just King.

By the time they strode to the middle of the yard, at least twenty wolves had gathered on the lawn, some drinking beer, some eating, others in full tactical gear.

He withdrew his sword from his back sheath. “Let’s get this over with,” he muttered.

“That’s a terrible attitude,” Aurora said as she slipped off her sneakers.

He frowned, wondering what she was doing.

But then she started glowing, and her wings shot out of her back. He heard a faint ripping sound and realized she’d ripped her sweater. Clearly she didn’t care, going by the grin on her face.

He stared in awe, unable to stop himself as pale blue fire licked over her entire body and she lifted into the air on wings of the same pale fire. She really was the most stunning thing he’d ever seen in his hundred-plus years on this earth.

The only reason he didn’t care that he was staring so boldly at her was because he guaranteed every other pack member was staring at her as well. It was impossible not to. She was goddamn perfection.

He unstuck his tongue from the roof of his mouth and found his voice. “So when do we—”

She flapped once, hard, and a bolt of blue lightning shot straight at his face. He dodged to the side, lifted his sword and slammed into it.

The power of her lightning ricocheted into him, straight to his core. But it didn’t hurt. If anything, it rejuvenated him, made him feel as if he could take on an army all by himself. He’d had his sword for close to a hundred years and thought he knew everything about it. But in that moment, he realized his sword was soaking up her power as well. Holy shit. He hadn’t known that was possible.

She shot at him again. He dodged, this time swinging at it as if his sword was a baseball bat.

Her lightning bolt sparked in the air, creating a beautiful shower of blue and silver before his sword sucked up all the energy.

“You’re pretty good,” she called out and shot three bolts at him at once.

It said a lot about what she thought of him that she thought he could take on her lightning. Because he didn’t think she was holding back. He was glad—he never wanted this female to hold back from him. He wanted all of her, every authentic bit.

He twisted and turned, slicing each bolt of lightning she threw at him.

It was a deadly dance between the two of them and he wondered what would happen if he missed and her fire slammed into his chest instead. It was something he didn’t plan to find out. He was an Alpha wolf but he wasn’t immortal, and he’d seen her bolts of lightning take down an Alpha dragon. Of course he had taken down multiple Alpha dragons himself.

Around them, everyone else faded away as he danced with her, slicing and jabbing at bolt after bolt. His sword ate up the power, singing with pure pleasure with each strike.

Finally, she threw her head back and laughed, her wings flapping beautifully in the night air. Her long chestnut hair blew back in soft waves. She looked like a warrior goddess as her feet touched the grass once again.

Sweat rolled down his back and neck as he grinned at her. He felt like a teenage pup as he stared at her, but he didn’t care.

When he looked at his pack, most of them were staring at the two of them with wide eyes. He frowned. “What?”

“I think you broke some personal records,” Delphine called out. “I’ve never seen you move so fast! That was incredibly impressive.”

He took a couple mock bows and everybody started laughing, a few clapping and others wolf-whistling.

Aurora approached him, her wings still bright as she pulled them tight against her back. He loved when she let them free, when she allowed herself to be everything she was meant to be. “How do you feel?”

“Incredible,” he said honestly.

Her grin grew even wider. “Good. Then my job here is done. I’m probably going to head home and grab a shower. I just wanted to make sure…you were okay.” She murmured the last part subvocally so only he could hear.

He appreciated it. He was Alpha, had to appear indestructible. It was strange to have someone worry about him the way she did, but he liked it. She would make an incredible Alpha’s mate. Hell, would be an incredible Alpha.

He held out a hand and clasped her forearm like he would one of his warriors. He thought of her as so much more than that, but he respected her on this level as well. And he wanted her to know it.

She clasped his forearm as well and nodded once at him. “Anytime you need to practice, let me know.”

He nodded because he couldn’t find his voice at the moment. As he looked into her eyes, he found himself wanting that future he dreamed of with her.

A future with her as his mate.