*Rush*
The air in the room suddenly burned. The flames seemed to grow so strongly, all in accordance with Aletha. Her miasma spilled hard into his nostrils. The scent of honey and...ashes.
His mate was watching Kellhum with hard malice. Her dark brows were furrowed, her lips slanted down, her teeth revealing her gleaming fangs. She looked marvelous, Rush thought. She looked terribly beautiful when she was angry.
But he already knew that, didn't he?
She'd been so angry with him in the beginning of their time together. She was a flame, burning him alive. And that fiery streak was back with a vengeance. Rush began to smile as he withdrew his hand from his brother's guts. Blood spewed to the ground. Kellhum looked like he'd just seen a ghost. The male's body was trembling as he stared at Aletha.
Rush really couldn't blame his brother for fearing Aletha, though. She was a sight, wasn't she. With red hair almost levitating in the air like snakes. Her claws, to his shock, were like his mother's—red. He hadn't seen that before. Or the tiny green sparks shooting out of the tips of her fingers.
His mother looked wrathful when she saw Aletha this time. Her eyes burned brutal red. "A demon," Vicera shouted. "I can feel her essence! This is a blasphemous mating!"
Aletha turned to her very quickly. Her eyes were animalistic, but her voice was even deadlier. "If I'm a demon, then what are you?"
Vicera was positively shaking. The burning fury in her body was almost personal. "Come away, Kellhum, quickly! Don't let that female touch you with her essence. She will seduce you and then she will consume your soul!"
"Ah, but mother dearest," Rush drawled slowly. He was still alarmed by what Aletha's physical appearance. Something had seemed to come undone inside of her, enough to unleash a dark part of her he'd felt all along but couldn't put his finger on. "Kellhum has no soul." He glanced over at his brother, smiling sharply. "Right, Kellhum?"
His brother couldn't even move. He went so pale that he looked like a piece of parchment.
"What is in that necklace?" Maddox inquired now. "Care to explain?"
The walls above them began to crack. Stones fell the ground. The fire flickered outrageously against his mother. "This dinner is over."
"Is it," Maddox said. He was pacing now, moving among his warriors. Since his form was hidden, only his voice gave away where he was in the tower. "You are hiding something, and I will find it. You don't think I won't follow through with my promise I made centuries ago, do you? The promise about finding your soul?"
His harsh, deep laughter echoed through the tower. The sound was so evil, that even Rush had to remind himself that this male was on his side. If Maddox was his enemy, then that would be something to fear
The green sparks on the tips of Aletha's fingers died down, but when she touched Rush's hand, all he felt was a cool, replenishing sensation. He almost drew closer, seeking more of her touch, but Sirka was approaching them again, and Rush released his mate in the hands of his Gamma.
Take her back, he mind-linked Sirka. Keep her safe. I'll deal with my mother alone.
Rush kissed Aletha's head and whispered for her to go. Now that Maddox had that look of victory on his face, Rush knew exactly what cards to pull.
"Are you sure?" Aletha asked somewhat hesitantly.
Rush nodded. "Yes, love. You were perfect tonight. But now I want you home."
Her brown eyes widened when he said that. Home. Of course, she'd always believed she was an outsider, that she would never be accepted. She always thought she never had a true home. But this was her home, for as long as she wanted.
She nodded, and with a hoarse whisper, she said, "thank you."
His heart swelled at the purity of her gratitude. This female had gone through every single nightmare imaginable and all she'd wanted was a home. The faint whispers erupted in his head again, clenching his chest. How could he not want her?
She was everything he wanted. Everything he needed.
In that moment, he knew...what he felt for her, it was something painful and deep and raw and intense. He'd never felt it before. Looking at her unleashed it. And speaking to her made the sensations worse. And smelling her and touching her? He wanted to erupt.
Before Aletha left with Sirka, she looked at Vicera one last time. "In case you're behind everything you did to my pack, let me remind you that Crimson blood runs through my veins. I won't forget. I will never forget." She turned to Sirka and nodded.
Sirka had a large grin on her face as she dematerialized out with her Luna.
The air seemed to cool down immediately after Aletha left, which raised his suspicions even more. There was something about Aletha, something in her essence that wasn't exactly normal. He would find out what it was. But judging from how she'd reacted, almost a little fearful of herself, she probably didn't have an inkling about it either. On top of that, he'd never sensed the fire and the coiling essence so robustly.
Rush studied his mother. Her rage was still there, but it was more urgent. He had a feeling she wanted to track Aletha, observe her...bring more damage to her in however way she could. She was possessive over something as she clutched the area above her heart. He couldn't help but notice again...her red claws looked eerily similar to Aletha's. Forked nails that were tainted red.
But he caught his mother staring at him, so he quickly averted his gaze before she began to realize what he was suspecting. "Mother dearest," he announced, looking down at his hand for a moment. Kellhum's blood was dark red like his mate's. The blood hadn't dried like it should have. Instead, it was still thick and syrupy, dripping down to the ground. Interesting. "It seems as if you have underestimated me. Again."
Vicera moved Kellhum behind her just as Rush made the observation that a soulless pureblood's blood never dried. "What are you talking about?"
"Maddox," Rush called. "Why don't you tell them who the purebloods in Castira belong to?"
"Alpha Rushika," Maddox announced.
Vicera opened her mouth with outrage, but Rush cut her off.
"And who do the purebloods in the Bloodlands belong to?"
"Me," Maddox finished. "The lords swore fealty to me only last night. I have my Beta monitoring them. Jasper never fails. And he didn't fail this time either. Right now, all of your territory belongs to Rush and I. So Vicera, you might want to consider your options carefully."
"I don't believe this," Vicera growled. "You can't invade my lands, or Kellhum's. The purebloods will destroy you! It's impossible."
"Is it," said Rush. The look in his face said it all. He'd planned for everything before coming into the Blood Tower. He'd told one of his best warriors, Fang, to go into Castira with three hundred Night warriors and present all of the lords with a little blackmail. Although most of the threats Fang and his men laid down were exaggerations of mass proportions—Rush would never murder all of the female purebloods and leave the empire crumbling with no way to procreate—it seemed to have sealed the deal. Castira honored their pureblooded females because Vicera was their queen. If the females perished, then the males would be left at the mercy of their queen's wrath, which everyone knew ended in a bloodbath.
When his mother said nothing, Rush continued.
"The initiation ceremony will continue in three days. However, my mate will not be fighting a rogue—until she is ready. If she fights now, that will give the rogue an unfair advantage over her in regard to physical strength. She is not ready to fight, and if she does now, the challenge will be void. It will be worthless, and we don't want war coming to your doors, now do we? The Darkworld is strict when it comes to what's a fair challenge."
"I didn't have to accept your replacement challenge—"
"Actually, you have no choice but to accept. When one willingly offers to replace a challenge, it must be honored. Besides, you had been conspiring with Fiona to defeat my Luna, so I can hold you accountable for transgressing in my own pack." He clapped his hands together loudly. "So I have decided, if it's a replacement challenge that must now happen, since it's been offered and you can't back out of it, I have all the power to lay the conditions."
"And what conditions are those?" his mother fumed.
"Fiona will be punished. Her trial happens in two days. She will be given a suitable punishment from my Luna, and that will be her challenge – it will reflect her worth in my pack based on the punishment she chooses. That shows the character of a true Luna, not a bloody fight."
Of course, he would have to let Aletha know that she'd be sentencing Fiona instead of him. Aletha knew Fiona's trial was coming, but she'd thought Rush would punish her. She hadn't questioned him about it, but he'd seen the gleam of terrible sadness in her. It hadn't been sadness about her not being the one sentencing Fiona. It ran deeper than that. Aletha had looked almost lost. Forlorn. Almost as if she didn't hold herself in high regard, or think that he did. She'd thought he didn't believe in her ability to be his Luna. That she was incapable of fulfilling her duty to the pack.
But he wouldn't let her feel that way. He wanted to show Aletha that he didn't think little of her. He wanted to honor her. He wanted her to do whatever the hell she wanted with Fiona, because the bitch had unrightfully hurt his mate. Who was better than the one who was wronged to sentence the wrongdoer? It would give Aletha power, confidence, and belief in herself. He wanted her to feel included. He would give her everything, and it would start with him letting her have some dominion in his pack.
Maybe that would make her happy. He'd promised her, didn't he, that he'd make her happy?
It started with her feeling like she was his equal.
"No," said his mother. "It will never show her strength."
"Oh but it will," he countered, keeping his tone firm and leaving no room for further argument. When it came to Aletha, there was no argument. That female was his, and her safety and honor were all he cared about. If anything fucking happened to Aletha, he would always blame himself. "And my words are final. Do I need to keep reminding you or will you accept that you have no other option left? You are in no position to negotiate with me. I'm not giving you a corner to back out from. I'm giving you what I want, all of my conditions, and you will follow it."
His conditions were law when it came to his mate. He wanted his mother to know that through and through.
Vicera was breathing harshly. He could almost see fire coming out of her nostrils. "It's a shame you don't look like him," she said. "Because you act just like Malice."
He knew she would bring his father into this somehow. He was expecting it to come, and as it finally came, he only snickered. "I don't find my looks very shameful at all, dearest mother. Reminds me of you, how you made me suffer for three centuries in your lair. Unfortunate for you, because it just motivates me to end your life."
"If you want to find my soul, be my guest," she said. "But I don't see you with my soul, son. Where is it, hmm? Perhaps you will never kill me."
"And perhaps he won't need to. You're already dead on the inside," said Iyla. She'd been rounding up the soulless purebloods during the little confrontation, and she'd done it perfectly. Nailed the fuckers to the corner with a look of pure satisfaction on her face. "I wonder...did it hurt when you parted with your soul?"
"Not particularly. I sent it to its grave in peace, and it's gone and forgotten. The winds of the ancient times do not make me tremor any longer. I have parted from the past, and you will never get your hands on it."
"Only you are responsible for your opinion. As wrong as it is," said Iyla. "Now if you'll excuse me, your highness, my stomach is upset. I am kind enough to spare you the trauma of a ruined sense of smell." She smiled crudely and waved. A few Death warriors left with her, and the air grew even colder.
The silence that fell was stark and full of predatory intentions. Rush ignored the looks of murder he received from his mother and her soulless bastards. Instead, he sighed and looked around. A scornful shake of his head later, he began, "Looks like your sons will need to clean all of this mess. I can't promise I can give you many felons tonight. I'm assuming all of you are still hungry. I sure am—Oh, Kellhum, don't be so rude to your mother. Release the female, let's see what she wants."
As soon as Kellhum released Vicera, she was a storm that came crashing against him.
Rush took hold of either sides of her shoulders. The look he gave her almost made her resolve crumble. "I made you angry," he said softly. "You've always been rather angry with me, haven't you." His voice dipped into a whisper. "Is it because I look like you? It reminds you of the fact that you're an absolute failure?"
He saw it then. The crazed urge to murder him boiling inside of her, and the shard of glass she held in her grasp came flying at his face. But he was fast, and he grabbed her hand, crushing her fingers. She howled in pain and fury, but he held on tighter, dragging her fingers across the jagged side of the glass to make her bleed.
"Why do you hate me so much, mhylan?" The use of the old language made her shudder, and he yanked the shard away, flinging it hard against the wall. They both watched it crumble into dust. He smelled her now, and the female had something close to despair seeping out of her pores. It was unfamiliar and so intense that it could almost be associated with fear.
In that moment of lapse, he yanked her hand to his mouth and took her blood in his mouth.
"NO!" she shouted. She didn't want him to drink his blood. She never let any male or female take her blood in their body, but he just did. He needed it to undo her. Her shouts turned into powerful, bloodcurdling bellows. The hissing of snakes elongated, drawing near, and finally he slowed down and withdrew. Her fangs had turned into dual spears, her power emanating like thunder. But she could not affect him, as he had her blood in his veins.
He crushed her harder against him. "Oh mother," he purred. "You know something? Even after everything you did to me, you can never kill me. I am your weakness. I am your everything. And you don't want me to know that, but I always knew it. It was in your eyes. It was in everything you did. I am your downfall, not your soul."
Vicera was shaking beneath him. The flames on the walls finally extinguished, leaving them in complete darkness. "Leave," she rasped, many voices emanating from her like several demons nested inside of her throat. "Leave now. Leave before I do the unthinkable."
"What is the unthinkable between you and I?" Rush inquired. Her glowing red eyes were filled with venom that he'd just taken inside of him. He tried not to dwell in the thought, but his stomach already clenched with a sickening pain he hadn't felt in a long time. "My sisters," he called now. I summon thee to the Blood Tower, he linked to the temple where the bloodgivers were.
A sweep of dresses and the scent of perfumed males and females immediately invaded the tower.
"Yes, Alpha?" asked the female in the very front.
He didn't break eye contact with Vicera. "I believe my mother and her boys are hungry. Why don't you feed them?"
"Of course." The female with glittering yellow eyes moved toward Vicera and Rush with fluid grace. She moved her dark hair back, and in the process, deliberately nicked her neck. "My lady, I am willing to serve you," she said, keeping her voice sultry and low. Slowly, she moved Vicera toward her, guiding the vampire queen's evil face to her neck. Vicera was still full of hate and murder, but a little more coaxing and the slurping sounds came fast and strong. Vicera's claws slammed hard inside the bloodgiver's hips, tearing her fabric hungrily.
Rush gave her a nod, but inside he was growing sick. Thank you, Fannari.
She nodded back, the seductive expression on her face turning into a look of great mission. You may always rely on me, Alpha. I don't mind this at all.
With a drew of her breath, she bent over the vampire queen like an animal ready to spring. For a moment she looked like a demoness clutching a victim. And then Fannari dematerialized to one of the chambers as his mother's snakes wrapped around both of them.
He would never have summoned Fannari had she not expressed her complete consent with this. His mother never just took blood. Even Kyla knew it. Which was why she'd retched all of her dinner on the pureblood when she came to the conclusion of what their mother truly did with the thirty virgin females each month.
Fucking sick.
The growl of the Night warriors let out a warning in the air. They were protective over the bloodgivers, because they fed from them on a daily basis. And from the looks of it, they weren't just protective—they were possessive.
"Are any of them your mates?" Rush asked aloud, finding his voice.
When a collective denial came from his men, Rush breathed out in relief. He could never ask a mate to do this kind of work. Giving blood wasn't exactly sexual, but the intimacy was unavoidable. And that made any bonded mate's rage explode if their mate was feeding someone else.
"Good. Then it's settled. I need a distraction. I need them fucking drunk on pureblood. And our bloodgivers are the closest things to purebloods in this pack. And to make sure they're not abused, I want you to remain here and watch over them," Rush ordained. He looked over at one of his more fearsome warriors. Virago looked like he'd just been gutted. His purple eyes flashed with a hollow sense of disbelief, and Rush knew the male wouldn't have left the tower even when Rush had said nothing of it. "Virago, I leave you in charge."
The male nodded. "You don't have to worry about a thing."
It sounded more of a promise to himself. Rush ignored the possessiveness in the male, but knew that those strong feelings will keep him extra alert. Which was why he wanted Virago in charge. The male could kill better than he could fight, and that was impressive.
"Don't let me down," Rush said. He raked his eyes through the males and found Maddox. Moving toward him as fast as he could, he whispered in his brother by soul's ear, "Come with me."
Maddox uttered something to his warriors, and they all remained in the Blood Tower as both Maddox and Rush left through the front gates. They didn't stop until the dark miasma around the Blood Tower faded and they were back in the fields. When the hot summer's air hit him hard in the face, Rush finally let himself go. All the revolting feelings inside of him erupted, and he began to shake.
"Rush," Maddox began, suddenly alarmed. "Hey, talk to me. What the fuck's wrong with you?" Rush was going to say something, but bile moved up his throat and he almost doubled over. Maddox yelled out his name and hoisted him up to keep him grounded. "Why did you drink her blood?"
"If I didn't do it then, I wouldn't have had another chance," Rush said. "But the shit comes with a price. Her memories."
And the bitch was willingly giving him hell. Once your blood was inside another, you had the power to give them memories. And sometimes, those memories were more like nightmares. He got flashes of her lips on his throat, her men clawing at him, laughing at him, degrading him.
"Ah, shit," he cursed, closing his eyes as his vision blurred. "Shit, I hate her. I hate her so much." His grip on Maddox's arm tightened and his breathing was irregular. He was panting, gasping for air. But the air was too hot and his lungs were on fire. "Maddox...I can't breathe!"
"...Rush?"
His blood ran cold.
"Rush...is that you?" Aletha's voice came. "What's..." She saw him. "Oh my Moon, what's wrong?"
Shit.
Her eyes were wide with horror. Sirka was behind her, her pallor completely pale as she urged Aletha away. Aletha shook away from Sirka's hold and moved toward him. Some sort of anguish flashed in her face. "Rush!" Her voice sounded like a choked cry, and he couldn't move. Through his blurred vision, he could see her coming as his past lit up behind his eyes. The past with chains and shackles and blood and sex. And she was running toward him and would collide with his past. The past he didn't want her to ever see. The past that he didn't want to see.
"Maddox!" he shouted, desperation clawing against his bones.
"The hills," Maddox growled. "Now!"
But Rush was already half gone by then. Aletha reached him and her voice was edged with panic. His name was repeated over and over again. But there was this ringing in his ears that made him tune everyone out. He saw red cross his vision, and then the bloodlust scored him hard and raw. A roar ripped out of his throat, his face twisting with agony and ferocious hunger from pain and humiliation. He wanted blood, and he wanted it now.
Maddox slammed him down to the ground before it got worse and he went completely berserk. "Control yourself," he barked. "Fucking control yourself. Come back. You're killing nobody on my watch. You can kill me some other time, but not today."
You're only a dog, came a derisive voice. You're my unworthy bastard.
Rush shut his eyes tightly, trying to block it out. The voices in his head were so loud and punishing that he'd lost his senses and nearly attacked his brother by soul. He could have attacked Aletha. He could have...
It all came rushing back like that block in his head had been speared and emptied into his blood like poison. It came back so hard that a blast of pain hit his skull, and then he was peering into darkness.
Chains. He was back in that cell, shackled and collared and chained and manacled. He was trapped, his legs split apart, his neck with hundreds of bite marks. He smelled like shit. But they loved the way he smelled. He could smell the terror. His terror. He could smell his desperation. The need to flee, because he was too frail to fight.
The men's gleaming eyes. The hunger and lust. The sadistic intentions. Their voices that mocked him, defiled him, told him what they would do to him before they did it all and worse. And he'd been powerless. Fucking powerless.
Something warm trailed down his cheeks. At first he thought it was his blood, but then soft hands were brushing them away, holding him with so much tenderness that he knew they were his tears.
"Aletha," he spoke hoarsely. He forced his eyes open and met her liquid brown ones. Oh, she looked so beautiful, even though she was crying with him. "Aletha, love...I want you to go back to the castle. Please? Can you do that for me?"
She shook her head. "No, I can't leave you like this." There was a tremor in her voice before possessive hostility took over. "It was her, wasn't it? I hate what she's doing to you. I hate how much she hurts you!"
Rush took her hands and pulled them away from his face. The instant he did, the demons growled in his head. Chains began clanking. The slave began screaming. "Go now, female," he said more urgently. His stomach did a sickening flip before the blinding, stabbing pain emerged.
"What's going on?" Aletha demanded. "What's happening to him?"
"Luna, you need to come with me now," Sirka ordered, pulling Aletha away.
"No! Let go of me!"
"Aletha, go!" Rush snarled. The blood was oozing out of his mouth, but he didn't give a shit anymore. He was out of time. "Or this will end in a tragedy. I don't want us gone, Aletha. I want us to live."
Sirka held her back while Maddox grabbed ahold of him. "Let's go. Get us out."
Rush did exactly that. He let his body scatter out of the fields before his mate saw the worst of the pain.