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  Aylia focused on Nico, the asshole she’d once loved and probably still did. Okay, she still did. She still did and she was really a messed up witch. Her gaze slid to his neck, to the chain that hung beneath his shirt, buried where she couldn’t use magic to call it to her. And of course, he knew that.

  She stopped in front of him and reached for it. He seemed to anticipate her move, dropping the pool stick at what seemed the same moment. He shackled her wrist, his eyes simmered with fire—a warning.

  The room went silent around them except for the music. A moment, then two, bled into time standing still, the calm before the certain storm. She could feel all the eyes on them, could feel the mistake of her actions. This was Royal Guard pack territory and she’d just challenged the leader in public. It was a foolish thing to do, to back Nico into a corner, to force him to stand against her or risk challenge by one of his pack for his role.

  Suddenly, he moved, and she was molded against him, his fingers threaded through her hair. “You’re on dangerous territory, my little witch,” he murmured in a deep, raspy voice that was both predator and wolf. His hand slid over her backside, and his mouth came down on hers, his tongue pressing past her teeth.

  Shock paralyzed Aylia for a moment, but his words replayed in her mind. Dangerous territory. She was on dangerous territory. If Nico appeared weak to his pack, he’d be challenged for leadership, and someone, maybe even him, would die. She didn’t want anyone to die. She didn’t want him to die, no matter how she might despise his actions. It was that clarity that allowed her to relax into him, to forget her anger, her necklace he’d stolen.

  Aylia moaned and melted into the kiss, into the hot possession of his mouth on hers. It was a kiss that was meant to claim her, to submit her to his command. He was telling everyone in the room, including her, that she belonged to him. And it scared her how much she wanted it to be true. How much she still wanted a wolf that was wicked to the bone.

  Chapter Four

  A wicked wolf’s secret…

  Aylia gasped as Nico tore his mouth from hers and growled, “We’re leaving,” before storming towards the exit with her in tow. She stumbled to keep up with him but was all about getting the heck out of there before someone really did challenge Nico. Not to mention the fact that she was embarrassingly aroused, in the midst of his pack who could smell her desire.

  Her gaze swept over Kole, who wasn’t just Nico’s second-in-charge, but his most trusted friend, trying to read his expression. Instead, her eyes fell on Serena Edwards, the beautiful blond wolf who had always wanted Nico, and was now trying to kill Aylia with a look of pure hatred; Serena, who had been there with Nico this past year when Alyia had not. Who had most likely filled Aylia’s place in Nico’s bed.

  Aylia told herself that it didn’t matter, that she didn’t care what Nico had done or with who, despite the knots forming in her stomach. Nico had sent her away; he’d blamed her like the rest of The Society leaders for magic gone wrong, even when she and her coven had warned them it was risky. Magic that was now locked in her necklace that they’d clearly decided was too dangerous to be left in her hands.

  They exited the bar and Aylia knew Nico’s lack of words weren’t about the cameras and audio everywhere in this damn place. Fury radiated off of him. Well, join the club, she thought. She was more than angry herself. She was one big ball of ticked off witch.

  He kept walking, pulling her towards the elevators when he normally would give her time to catch up. She knew where they were going, knew this entire plan of hers – okay, she hadn’t really had a plan and that was the problem - had backfired. She was about to be back in a private room with Nico. Oh yeah, she was in trouble. Even if she told him to keep the necklace, which wasn’t an option, he couldn’t let her walk out of here right after a confrontation.

  He punched a code into the elevator pad, and they entered, his hand firmly around hers. He still didn’t look at her. There was only one level separating them from the floor dedicated to the Royal Guard, and his private suite now.

  Inside the elevator, he held onto her and keyed in yet another code, a statement of dominance for those who watched on camera, and without question, for her. He was ever the dominant one, which had usually aroused her. Hell, it still did, which was exactly why it was all she could do not to pull away. She’d never gather her wits with her body aching to rub herself all over the damnable wolf. But she didn’t and not because of him or her, but because of the cameras. Because she’d learned long ago that the wolves had survived as a race for thousands of years by looking for weakness in their own and destroying it before it destroyed them.

  The doors shut and he turned to her, stared down at her, his eyes rippling with the yellow of his wolf, etched with heat and anger. There was one hell of an explosion coming. Of that, there was no question.

  They arrived on his floor and he released her hand, a tease of freedom she didn’t have and she felt her anger expand. He was just so damn good at letting her go.

  Aylia curled her arms in front of her chest and exited into the hallway and to the right. He fell into step with her, by her side. She was aware of him; felt him all over, as if he still touched her, the entire way down the too long carpeted path that ended at his door. He keyed yet another code to enter and she wanted to scream at him to hurry when there was nothing slow about his movement. She wanted inside the suite, she wanted out of the public eye, where everything bottled up inside her could explode.

  He shoved open the door and she was already in motion; ready to end the silence between them. Nico followed on her heels, kicking the door shut. She started to whirl around to face him, when he crowded her and pressed her back against the door.

  His fists pressed against the door, framing her face. “Don’t ever challenge me in front of the pack again. Someone could have easily ended up dead tonight. You know this. You know the rules.”

  “You stole my necklace,” Aylia blasted back. “Where are your rules, Nico?”

  “That stunt you pulled wasn’t the way to get it back. You know damn well how the pack operates. You know how easily someone ends up dead.”

  “I’m not a wolf,” she said. “I’m a witch and I act like a witch and we both know that’s a bad word in your world. I don’t belong here and neither does my necklace.”

  His fingers slid around her neck, his mouth lowering above hers. “You belong with me,” he growled, slanting his mouth over hers, in a brutally possessive, deep kiss, a branding with his tongue. Aylia tried not to respond, but his tongue stroked hers, hot and hungry.

  Somehow she pushed against him and tore her mouth from his. “No,” she panted, though she wasn’t sure if she was talking to him, or to herself. Her body was defying her. Her nipples ached and she was wet. “Stop. I’m not letting you fuck me senseless again, Nico, and then fuck me over. You took my necklace, Nico. You left me for dead. I’m not going to forget that. You thought I wouldn’t come here, you thought I’d try some other approach to getting it back. Well, you were wrong. Word to the wise. Don’t dare someone who you’ve given a death sentence. They have nothing to lose.”

  “Do you think I’d have survived as the alpha of the Guard for a hundred years if I didn’t know that? I knew you’d come for the necklace. I didn’t know you were going to charge into the bar and forget you were dealing with the pack.”

  She drew back slightly. “What? You knew I’d come for it? Why take it if you knew I’d come for it? I don’t understand.”

  His eyes flashed with something dark, something tormented. “You will,” he said. “I promise you. You will.” He scooped her up and started carrying her towards the back of the suite, towards his bedroom.

  Chapter Five

  A wolf’s torment…

  Aylia was here and Nico had no intention of letting her run away; of that, she’d been right. Nor did he think he could survive another day without her, let alone another long century. He held her, carrying her through his bedroom, their bedroom, and strai
ght to the massive bathroom, his feet hitting the gray and white marble floor leading to the massive round tub Aylia had often filled with bubbles, where he’d often joined her.

  He flipped on the light and set her on her feet, facing the mirror so she could see his face, so he could see hers, so she could see the torment he felt. Emotion he’d never show anyone else in this lifetime. Just her. Just his little witch.

  “Nico?” she asked, uncertainty in her voice.

  His fingers settled on her waist, working her shirt upward.

  She grabbed his hands. “No. No, I...just no. You sent me away. You took my necklace and left me for dead. Turning me into a big puddle of melting butter isn’t going to change those things, so let’s just not go there.”

  Guilt and anger collided inside him at her rejection, anger at himself for all that had taken place, for all that he should have prevented and did not. For making her feel he’d betrayed her, for her actually believing that he would, when he knew he’d given a damn good convincing performance.

  Nico reached up and grabbed the neckline of her shirt, ripping it down her shoulder and her back, before turning her so that they could both see in the mirror. “This is why I took the damn necklace,” he said, his fingers tracing the scars. “This is why I wouldn’t give it back to you when I retrieved it. It’s dangerous. It did this to you.”

  “Wolves did this to me,” she said, facing the counter, her eyes colliding with his in the mirror. “Rebecca, one of your Guards who decided to hop into bed with Andres, helped him do this to me. They’re dead and the world is safer.”

  It had been a betrayal that had cut deep into the Society, into him when she’d attacked Alyia. “Andres and Rebecca might be dead, Aylia, but the Rebel movement is far too large to just go away. Once they reorganize, someone close to Andres in the rankings, who knew about the magic, will come for that necklace and either kill you for it, or try to use you to make the magic work. You need my protection.”

  “I don’t need or want your protection, Nico.” Her voice was tight, strained, her eyes glassy. “I’m nobody’s obligation. I have my Coven and my necklace, or I will before I leave here today. Those two things are all I need.”

  He turned her to face him. “Your necklace didn’t protect you when you were attacked. You were down and bleeding to death before you ever knew what happened. As for your coven? You think they will protect you? Where the hell were they when Rebecca and Andres damn near killed you?”

  She stiffened her spine, her eyes turned from glass to ice, her bottom lip quivered. “Where the hell were you, Nico?”

  He threw his head back with the impact of those words, at the truth of them he wished he could change. “I deserve that,” he said, burying his face in her neck, his hand sliding to her lower back. “But I promise, I’m never going to deserve it again. Aylia-”

  “Don’t,” she said, the fingers of one of her hands sprawling on his chest. “Don’t say anything else. Let me out of here. I need space. I feel claustrophobic and I don’t want to talk anymore.”

  He set her on top of the counter, pressed her legs apart and stepped between them. “You said you wanted to talk. We’re going to talk.”

  “Talk about what? How to appease some kind of guilt seeing me again created in you? No, thank you. Just give me my necklace and let me go. You’re good at letting me go. I’m not Pack. I’m not a wolf. I can’t be pack. I can’t ever really bond with you. Just go bury your guilt in Serena and all will be better.”

  He laced his fingers in her hair, forced her to look at him. “I have never touched Serena, nor will I ever. My bed has been as icy as you’re being right now since you left. And if yours hasn’t been, I don’t suggest you tell me unless you want me to kill whoever the son-of-a-bitch was.”

  “I don’t understand you, Nico,” she whispered. “You sent me away. If this is some game, if it’s about the necklace, if it’s about some kind of magic you need, then please don’t do this to me. Please, just give me my necklace, let me leave. I’ll help you with any kind of magic you need. You have my word.”

  “I don’t play games. You know that. You know me like no one else does. If I needed something, I’d tell you; I’d be direct. And I care about that damnable necklace for one reason and one reason only. It’s tied to your life. Without it, you don’t exist and I won’t let that happen.”

  Tears gathered in her eyes, her fingers balling around his shirt. “You sent me away,” she repeated. “No matter what you say, it all comes back to that. You blamed me for Andres right along with your council, when I was trying to save lives, when they asked me to create the spell to bind the Red virus. When I was trying to give you back your father.”

  Nico inhaled on the memory he tried to forget. The pain of the father he’d worshipped becoming one of the few cases of a natural born wolf turning to a Red. Then being dealt the blow of his mother mating with his father’s best friend and moving out of the country.

  He covered Aylia’s hands with his. “I know you were trying to help me. I know and it matters more than I could tell you at the time. Right before I sent you away, I’d received reliable intel that Andres had put a price on my head. He had an assassin inside the Society, someone close to me, which we now know was Rebecca. I knew I had to get you out of here so you didn’t end up in the crossfire, dead by association, or simply to torture me. I also knew you wouldn't agree to leave; that you’d try to use your magic to catch the traitor. So I went to our King and we decided to use Andres as an excuse to get you out of here. But we also had to convince everyone, inside the Society and outside, that I was done with you, so that killing you served no purpose. It never crossed my mind, or the King’s, that Andres would think he could use the spell in the necklace.”

  Aylia stared at him, her jaw tense, the air thickening with anger. The tears he’d watched her battle overflowed down her cheeks, and she swiped at them. “Just let me out of here. I don’t want to be in this bathroom with you. I don’t want to be in this suite, or this hotel. Let me go. You just proved what I was saying. I have never belonged here. I was not, and never will be, part of your pack. And now I know I was kidding myself to think I was ever really a part of your life or you wouldn’t have kept all of this from me; and you damn sure wouldn’t have so easily sent me away. Besides, we both know you need a wolf to mate. I’m nothing more than a side distraction and I won’t be that anymore.”

  “Two hundred years and I have never mated, Aylia, and you know why? Because you were the one I was waiting on. You are my mate, I don’t give a damn what the biology of it is.” He pressed her hand to his heart. “You are my heart.”

  She shook her head. “No. No. Let me go, Nico.” She tried to scoot away from him, around him. He held her easily, not about to let her escape. She glared at him. “Don’t bully me, Nico Moore. You know how much I hate it. You might be the alpha here with your own, but I am not your own and you are not my alpha. ”

  It took every bit of willpower he had, to step back rather than carrying her off to the bed and making love to her until she listened, but he did it. He stepped back and held up his hands. “I’ll back off. Just, please, hear me out. That’s all I ask.”

  Shock registered in her face. “You said ‘please’?”

  “Yeah, well, I know I’m better at demanding than asking,” he admitted, knowing the core of his wolf, but also knowing how important Aylia was to him. He wanted her to know as well. “But I’m asking now.”

  She pressed her hands to the counter, her legs primly pressed together. “Over a year, Nico. You shut me out for over a year. You didn’t even come to me when I was attacked.” Her voice quivered as she added, “You have no idea how much that hurt me.”

  “I know,” he said, starting to move.

  She held up a hand. “No. Stay back. I can’t think when you touch me.”

  He inhaled and gave a sharp nod. “Knowing you were hurt and that I couldn’t come to you about killed me.”

  She made a sou
nd of disgust. “You could have come to me. You just didn’t.”

  He shook his head. “No. I tried. That blood sucking, bastard vampire Marcus has some sort of angelic connection that I can’t begin to figure out. He popped me to some alternate dimension and left me there for an entire week.”

  “What? Why in the world would he do that?”

  “He was convinced that if I went to you, I’d be painting a bull’s-eye on your chest. By the time he freed me, he’d given you his blood, and you recovered. That’s when I decided I had until midnight on your birthday to kill Andres and Rebecca, and anyone else in the rebel movement I could get my fangs in.” He softened his voice. “When you turn twenty-five, I intended, I intend, for you to be right by my side, and safe.”

  She searched his face. “Why didn’t you just tell me this last night?”

  “Because I wasn’t willing to take a chance that you wouldn’t come back to me and let me protect you. You have no idea, Aylia, how much it killed me to look at your scars last night and to know that sending you away exposed you instead of protected you.”

  “Like I said – guilt.”

  “You’re damn straight I feel guilt, Aylia. I let the woman I love get attacked and nearly killed. What the fuck else would you expect me to feel? It’s tortured me. It’s still torturing me. I wasn’t letting you walk out of that hotel wearing the necklace. I wasn’t and I won’t leave you exposed again. If you’d have refused to come with me, I would have been forced kidnap you. In which case, your damn Coven sisters would have reached into some magical mojo that would have caused all kinds of trouble.”

  “Damn Coven?” she challenged. “Damn wolves.”

  He stared at her a moment and suddenly his lips twitched beyond his control. This was so familiar, so good; an exchange they’d had a million times before this, over her meddling coven sisters. “Fine then,” he said, barely containing laughter. “Damn wolves.”