QUILLA
I am not capable of wanting or loving anyone but you.
The intensity of Viggo’s words, and the heat in his eyes as he kneels before me leave me breathless and my mind a whirl.
I just cannot keep my bearings with this lycan. He evokes such extremes of emotions in me I can’t tell from one second to the next if I want to kill him or kiss him again.
My body begins to tingle and shiver with the aftereffects of the adrenaline rush and sit on my hands to steady myself but mostly to keep Kyra from jumping the damn lycan.
The Gods need to send me some damn divine intervention, Viggo’s insanely perfect naked body is fully imprinted in my brain and Kyra is going into a full-blow swoon over him. Even now fully clothed my eyes stray to what I know is under those sweats.
One hundred percent pure temptation wrapped in muscle, power, and raw sex appeal.
Ugh.
“Please go back to your seat, I can’t think when you’re this close. Is it hot in here?” I huff, and his eyes widen in surprise before a smile tweaks the corner of his lips.
“Apologies mate, let me get you something to drink,” he says with a bow of his head retreating to the kitchen and I breathe a little easier.
I take the break to examine the small room we are in.
All the luxury of the fine furniture and creature comforts of the studio-style room that cannot hide that this room is designed to keep someone locked in, and others out. The large steel door screams prison and all of a sudden the reality of where we are sets in and a nervous shiver runs up my spine.
Viggo strides purposefully to the small kitchen, opens a fully stocked fridge, and returns to hand me a can of soda.
He seems to sense my apprehension as I take the offered can and squats in front of me, one hand cupping my knee.
“You’re safe Quilla, this is just a precautionary measure. The entire pack is being locked down, Costas will interrogate every single wolf that was in the Castra the last thirty-six hours, they will review all our security footage and we will find who went into the suite. I promise you, no one will hurt you while I have breath in my body.”
For all the wrong Viggo has done to me so far, and despite how infuriating he is, there is a part of me that believes the depth of his words.
They carry a promise I’ve only ever believed in another male. Udyr.
“Thank you,” I whisper, sitting back, feeling calmer.
I look around the spacious studio room. There is one large king bed, an open living room and kitchen, and a door that leads to the bathroom he changed in.
Suddenly my thoughts swing as far away from our dilemma and Kyra wags her tail quite pleased with the situation we find ourselves in. She plants some very inappropriate thoughts in my head, all inspired by Viggo’s damn streaking.
This is not good.
I kick her back and clear my suddenly dry throat. The can of soda in my hand pops and fizzes as I open it up and refocus myself on the burning question in my mind that so far Viggo has not answered.
“So Viggo, who is she?”
I sense resignation in him as he returns to his seat and rests his elbows on his knees, to stare at the floor.
“Her name was Celine. She was the daughter of a lycan Alpha from a European pack. Lycanos is the only lycan pack in the Americas, but there are other packs across that continent.” He pauses for a second then continues as I nod my understanding.
“I was twenty-five and mateless. While attending the Lycan Council, her father proposed an arranged mating. At the time you had been missing for twelve years, and I’ll be honest, I was not in a good place. I agreed to the mating without ever having met Celine. Her father made all the arrangements.”
He pauses then looks up at me, his eyes glowing with the force of his lycan pushing forward.
“Kyros fought me the entire time, but I thought once she was marked the mate bond would bring Kyros around.”
He sighs, hunching his shoulders as he looks down at the floor for a second before looking back up at me.
“I was so fucking wrong. Kyros killed her when I tried to mark her during her accession.”
His firm gaze does not waver from my face and I do not attempt to hide the emotions I know are showing.
I’ve never had a poker face and I know he sees the shock, jealousy, and yes, fear.
“Why did he kill her?” I ask as I sit further back on the sofa. Viggo frowns seeing my movement but he stays put.
“Because she was not you.”
My heart pounds as I see the guilt and bitterness cross his face. I struggle to understand, but I find myself wanting to.
“Neo said you scented me when she was pregnant with me.”
Viggo looks up sharply and nods.
“I was ten. It’s not that uncommon for lycan males to scent their mates young. I don’t know any though that found theirs before she was even born.” he says with a wry smile.
“It is not something I can explain, but from that moment you became part of my life.”
He looks beyond me for a second and smiles.
“You obviously don’t remember but this is not the first time you’ve been to Lycanos.”
“Really?” I shift through my memories but struggle to find the one he’s referring to and fail.
“Yes. It was a few months before you were taken, you had just turned three I think. You came here with your parents. My father wanted to re-affirm our bond.”
I feel like my eyes are about to pop out of my head.
“Did we meet?”
He chuckles shaking his head.
“No. That would never have been allowed, we were both too young. I was thirteen, but I remember your scent filling the hallways, it frustrated me to no end that I could not see you.”
I squint my eyes at him folding my arms across my chest.
“This does not sound great you know. A thirteen-year-old mooning for a three-year-old. Humans go to jail for that kind of stuff.”
Viggo sits up straight, a flash of surprise and shock crossing his face.
“Goddess, it was not sexual! A mate bond found before maturity is more like a familial bond - you just know this person is meant to be a significant part of your life. I’m not a damn pervert!”
I raise my palms to him.
“Calm down old man, I get it.” I chuckle as his face darkens.
“I’m not old.”
“I’m nineteen, you’re almost thirty, that’s pretty old in my book.” I purse my lips and he scowls.
As much as I’m having a great time winding the lycan up, I haven’t forgotten the reason we are having this discussion.
“So what is the connection between Celine and the person who put that photo in your room.”
“Our room,” he grumbles but continues. “The wolf behind this is named Tariq. He was Celine’s mate.”
I don’t think Viggo could have shocked me more. It takes a moment for his words to sink in and distaste fills my mouth.
“You took another wolf’s mate as your own?”
Anger and bitterness marr his handsome features.
“It was not my intention. Celine’s father lied to me. She was twenty-three and mateless, her father said she had been to every mating festival and had not found her mate. He was presumed dead. I was only interested in securing a Luna for the pack, I didn’t spend any time looking further into the matter. What I didn’t know was that her mate was their pack Beta’s son but because he was not lycan Celine’s father forced her to reject him. He never accepted her rejection. He stayed in the pack hoping to win her back.”
“Her father sounds like an asshole.” I spit the distaste from my mouth. “But I don’t understand. You said they were a lycan pack, how was the Beta’s son, not a lycan?”
Viggo nods and stands walking back to the kitchen as he continues his explanation.
“The lycan gene is passed from father to son but rarely so, and never to females. Only one in four lycan-born males carry the gene, the others are born normal werewolves. Those that do carry the lycan gene are almost always sent to the royal packs of their nation and become part of the country’s elite guard. You’ve seen mine.” he says.
I nod thoughtfully reflecting on the dozen guards that escorted us back here.
“You only have a dozen?”
“No. Those are the Zeta’s, they are the elite of the elite, the Alpha and Luna’s guard. They go wherever you and I go and have been trained for that singular purpose. We have about fifty more lycans in the pack who are our first line of defense, our epsilons. While that number may seem small, one lycan on a battlefield is worth twenty wolves.” he says with pride he does not attempt to hide.
He pauses in his narrative a darkness falling over his face.
“Tariq is no lycan but he has been deadlier than any wolf I have ever encountered. He is cunning, manipulative and quite mad. I say this with utmost seriousness. We are not in this room for no reason Quilla - had it been Tariq that got into the suite last night you would be dead.”
---------