When Gideon woke up, he found himself holding Riannon in his hands. And
although it was the best feeling in the world, having his mate so close, so tight...
There were parts of him that were in pain. Literally.
He wanted her. Badly. And there was no denying that. His hardness was poking
at her back and all he wanted was to roll her and relieve her of her flimsy
nightgown that left little to the imagination anyway.
But he knew that this was not the way. Not in their situation.
His wolf, Hawk, was going crazy inside of him, begging to claim their mate.
“She is ours,” he chanted, “What are you waiting for?”
“She doesn’t know it yet,” Gideon had to brush him off, “We can’t just take her. It
doesn’t work like that with humans. If her wolf was around, it would be easier.”
“Her wolf is there,” Hawk snarled, “She doesn’t respond to me. But I can feel
her.”
“Well, that’s it then. Until she doesn’t respond, there is nothing we can do,” the
king wanted to close the subject but he could feel his beast trying to push him
away to gain control.
He knew very well how lycans were. His primal instincts would take over and he
would do something stupid. Something that he would never be able to take back.
No, Gideon couldn’t afford that. He was ready to do anything to protect Riannon.
So, he placed one little soft kiss on her shoulder, savouring the moment and then
tore himself off her and left the bedroom as soon as he could, locking the door
between the adjacent rooms.
He calmed down a bit after a very cold shower, still listening to his wolf’s
bickering.But when she came to see him in the morning, he had a hard time concentrating
on anything. He knew that if he allowed himself to look at her more, he would
simply throw her on his desk and do all the things he wanted to do since the
moment he saw her in that lake. Hawk was howling inside, begging him to submit
to their desires. The wolf couldn’t understand that
Ria was simply not ready for all that. That without her wolf it will be looked at as
aggression and not love. He tried to reason with him. But one couldn’t really
reason with a beast.
He knew they had to talk and he knew that he couldn’t hide the fact that she was
his
mate from her much longer. But thanks to his proactive sister today wasn’t the
day. Too many people were around thanks to the White party. And as their king,
he had obligations to talk to most of them.
So, the best course of action was to avoid Riannon at all times until they could do
However, that proved harder than he thought. Because since he saw her walking
out of the mansion in that dress... his whole mind exploded.
The beauty of his mate was captivating and everyone around them saw that.
Men turned their heads in her direction and so did women. The dress that she
had on hugged every curve of her perfectly but when she turned her back to
him... This was when he went absolutely nuts, because the two pieces of fabric
that were flowing elegantly down to the ground, left too much of her skin open.
He wanted to touch her. Badly. But he knew that if he did, he wouldn’t be able to
stop and that party would be over.
She moved gracefully as if she was born to be a queen. Which she probably
was. And he traced her with his eyes wherever she went.
The conversations he had with people did not seem to be working. He couldn’t
concentrate on them and had to just stay silent most of the time and play it cool.Luckily, no one dared to call him out on that. No one wanted to anger their king.
But it was when she started hanging out with his best warriors that he couldn’t
tolerate it anymore. They were his most loyal men and clearly knew who she was
already thanks to Savvy always being the object of their common affection.
Yet now they were around Riannon, and that playboy Jayden was flashing his
biceps at her. This was too much.
He growled so loudly and menacingly that people around them hurried to get as
far away as possible, pretending not to see how he grasped the Luna that wasn’t
even his yet and dragged her all the way to the oak tree.
He slammed his lips into hers because he couldn’t do this anymore, he couldn’t
pretend that he did not want her. And he did not want her to misunderstand him.
She was his everything. He wanted her, needed her, he desired her and craved
her. She was all he thought about even though he had a war on his doorstep.
And she tasted so good...
He tore off her to take a breath, wishing nothing more than to go back to what
they were doing. And then more...
But she pressed both her hands into his chest to stop him while she furrowed her
brows. “Just what is going on?” she demanded, “Why are you hot one minute
and cold another?” He wanted to explain her. He couldn’t stay silent anymore
and he did not care about anything now that her warm little body was in his arms
pressed to that huge tree.
They both snapped their heads in the direction of the sounds and saw people
running. Mostly women and children.
“What the fu.ck!” Gideon growled when he saw a few brown wolves jumping out
of the thick bushes surrounding his garden.Rogues. Those were clearly werewolf rogues. But what were they doing here?
“Riannon, get back into the mansion, please,” he squeezed her hand into his as
he glanced at her. He should have already been there, protecting his pack and
kingdom from intruders. But right now her safety was his priority.
“But...” She wanted to say something but he had to cut her off.
“Riannon, please,” he tried to sound calm, “We have enough warriors here to
deal with this. I don’t want any of my guests to take any risks. Let alone you. I...
don’t want anything to happen to you. So, please, get back there and find Sawy.
She may need some help in there.”
Ria never ran away from a fight. Ever. But now she remembered that she
couldn’t shift into Onyx and had to swallow her pride.
How pathetic. She did not want Gideon to see her as one of those females who
always needed help and protection. That wasn’t in her nature. She was an Alpha.
However, he was still here, looking at her with pleading eyes. And he needed to
be there, leading his warriors. She couldn’t stall him anymore. So, she simply
nodded and gathered up her dress.
He let go of her hand and watched her walking fast in the direction of the house.
While everyone else was running. She saw a woman struggling to get her
children inside. Ria rushed to her and picked up one of the two toddlers. Now
that she had aim, she started to move faster and Gideon was able to turn away
and shift in the air, letting a loud growl to leave his beast’s lungs.
Whoever ruined his day with Riannon and dared to enter his palace in such a
way, was going to pay for it. His warriors were already tackling the situation when
he sprung into action.
Those werewolf rogues were daring to attempt this attack.“Leave one of them alone,” he commanded via the mind link as he snapped
someone’s neck. It would take way more of them to appease his anger.
But that wasn’t a problem. Dozens and dozens of rogues were appearing out of
the woods.
Rogues wanted to get something and be gone. They were usually fighting for
their life and survival. But not these. These had an aim. But at the moment it was
hard to figure out what that was. He needed to clear the place of them as soon
as possible. And get back to her.
“Reid,” he said all of a sudden, “Get back and...”
“Protect the Luna?” he Beta chuckled, “And I thought you’d never ask. I’d be
honoured. Although trust me, she knew how to defend herself and others even
when she was a teen.”
He ran away in the direction of the house. Even though Reid never left a fight
early before.
Gideon tore off someone’s throat, thinking of how Ria didn’t have her wolf at her
disposal now. And he did not like that thought at all.
Meanwhile, Riannon reached the main hall with the woman she was helping and
hekids. The toddler in her arms seemed unsettled and she started rocking him
gently before his mother found a seat and gestured for her to give the child back.
She had twins and a girlaround 5 with her.
“Thank you, Luna Thorn,” she smiled at Ria, “You are very kind. I am sorry for the
inconvenience.”
“It wasn’t an inconvenience,” Riannon smiled at them and patted the kid on his
head, “It
was a pleasure and the best company I could ask for.”“There you are!” she heard Savannah’s voice and turned to see the lycan
princess. All the playfulness was gone from her face. The carefree girl looked
more like a general in a pretty dress now. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!”
“Sorry,” Ria shrugged her shoulders, “I was with Gideon when that happened and
then I was helping someone.”
A faint smile of approval appeared on Savvy’s lips but she suppressed it.
“Listen,” she said, guiding her in the middle of the room, “I may need your help
here. Believe it or not, but not every lycan is a great warrior. And we need to...”
She did not get to finish as a huge grey wolf jumped into the hall through the
window, shattering the glass into hundreds of pieces that flew around.
“Take care of the people!” Savannah said and shifted into a beautiful white wolf
with black ears. She growled menacingly and charged at the intruder, grabbing
his throat by her sharp canines and throwing him back where he came from. And
then she jumped right after
“Onyx!” Riannon called for her wolf in her mind, “Now would be the great time to
come back!”
Silence.
And right then another window broke and a huge chocolate brown wolf snarled at
everyone inside. This one was too close to the woman that Riannon was helping
earlier. She clenched her little kids closer to her chest and pushed her girl behind
her back protectively as the beast growled, baring his yellow teeth.
“Onyx!” Ria called for her wolf again. If she could shift, she would be able to deal
with this easily. But it wasn’t the case. Something was stirring inside her but she
didn’t have a response.
However, she couldn’t waste any time either and, pushing some fear-stricken girl
off her chair, she grabbed it and charged at the rogue, hitting it over his head.The chair splintered into several parts as the enemy whimpered from pain. His
yellow eyes darted at her and there was no doubt that she was his new goal.
Not backing away, Riannon slowly lowered herself to the floor and wrapped her
fingers around one of the legs of the destroyed chair. It wouldn’t help her, of
course. It was nothing against the beast.
Then again, she still had her strength and speed. So, when the wolf charged at
her, she did the same, startling him as she thrust the sharp piece of wood right
into his eye.
The rogue growled in agony but managed to get the thing out quickly. He looked
at Riannon and jumped her, making her fall all the way to the ground and pinning
her to the floor. His sharp claws dug into her belly and arm, making her cry out
from the pain.
She hated this weak position. And she hated how the wolf was looking at her. As
if he had already won.
His canines were too close to her and she grabbed his face with her free hand,
trying to push him away.
This was the moment when something snapped in her. She could feel power
circling through her bloodstream as she slowly managed to move the head away
from her.
It was a miracle and couldn’t be called anything else. Now the rogue on top of
her did not look so sure anymore. And she wanted to break his skull for
attempting to kill her and the kids before that glowing. Just the way she felt it
when she had Onyx with her all the time. She could sense that her wolf was very
near...
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