Conquest Read online

  “Really?” she said coyly. “Quinn didn’t seem to think so.”

  “You caught five rabbits in less than two hours. Of course it was a good hunt. I just don’t like having dead animals thrown in my lap.”

  “I was just kidding around.” She took a sip of beer. “You need to learn to lighten up.”

  “Isn’t that the truth?” Jagger said. He and Riddick clinked glasses. Quinn rolled his eyes.

  “I have an excellent idea to help us all loosen up,” Kayla said with a giggle.

  “Oh yeah?” Riddick said, wagging his eyebrows.

  “I’ll tell you about it upstairs in my bedroom.”

  She took her mug of ale with her as she climbed the stairs, the brothers trailing behind her. Quinn didn’t have a very good feeling about what was about to happen, but he was helpless to stop it.

  When all three brothers were in the bedroom together, Kayla shut the door. She stopped for a moment with her back to them. When she turned around, she had a strange look on her face. Something about the gleam in her eyes and the tilt of her lips made Quinn’s heart flutter, and not in a good way.

  She approached him and pressed her lips to his, sliding her tongue deep into his mouth. Liquid heat enveloped him as she grasped the collar of his robe and pulled him hard against her. She pushed him down on the bed and straddled his lap.

  She motioned for Riddick and Jagger to join them as she tore off her shirt then Quinn’s robe. She was bare save a see-through tank top, her rosy nipples taut as she slid over his naked chest.

  His body responded against his will, betraying him. He relented to her kiss, letting her slide her hips back and forth on his lap, making him harder and hotter with each thrust.

  Jagger moved in behind her, grasping her breasts with his hands. He kissed her neck and cheeks as he rolled her nipples between his fingers. She tilted her head back and kissed Jagger as Riddick began to unbuckle her pants.

  She stood and dropped her pants to the floor. She took Quinn’s length in her hand and licked the tip of his manhood before sliding her mouth over his shaft.

  She took his erection deep in her throat, sucking him down as far as she could. She groaned as she moved up and down on his length, sucking deeper and harder as his brothers stroked and fondled her body. He was so hard and so close to release that he thought he might come at any moment. But she moved away.

  Lying on the bed, she curled her finger at the brothers, beckoning them to come to her. Quinn’s mind reeled with pressure and unreleased desire. He lay beside her and threaded his hand through her fingers. He didn’t move to claim her body. Riddick slid between her legs and began to lick her with furious abandon.

  She motioned for Quinn to come to her. Pushing the others away, she guided him on top of her, ignoring his resistance. He descended over her, looking deep into her eyes.

  “I love you, Kayla.” To himself he said, “I know you’re still in there.”

  He pushed inside her. He would find a way to bring her back from whatever had changed her soul and reformed her heart into something he didn’t recognize. He kissed her deeply. No matter what had happened to her, the girl he loved was still inside there, and he wouldn’t give up on her. He knew who she was, and he always had.

  He made love to the memory of the real Kayla, not whoever was living inside her body, who looked like her and sounded like her but was not his beloved alpha queen. As he came, he whispered into her ear, “I’ll find you.”

  She pushed him away as he finished and glared at him angrily. Her demeanor switched as soon as she invited the others to resume their worship of her body.

  He rolled away and climbed off the bed, pulling his robe back over his shoulders. With one last glance at his brothers and his mate, he left the room. He would not return until he’d brought her back from wherever she’d gone.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Kayla stared at Quinn across the breakfast table and saw the hint of suspicion in his eyes. It was getting worse all the time. She couldn’t have him stopping her from achieving her goals. She rubbed the small bump on her belly, which had been growing bigger every day. She was two months on, and she knew that it would soon be impossible to hide the pregnancy from her mates. How she detested the feeling of the creature growing inside her. The nausea made it almost impossible to eat anything, but she picked at the sausage on her plate.

  “Are you all right?” Jagger asked.

  “I’m fine. It took a long time to recover from the infection, but it’s better now.”

  “I’m just worried about you,” Jagger said.

  “We are all worried about you,” Quinn added.

  She gave him a sharp look but forced herself to soften her expression. “You’re all so sweet, wanting to protect me like that. How did I get so lucky to have such wonderful, protective mates?”

  “The prophecy,” Sid said, shoving an entire sausage link into his mouth. “We are all lucky to be with you.”

  Kayla glanced from Sid to Felix, the two brothers she hadn’t claimed yet. Given that she wasn’t particularly attracted to any of the Blackfangs anymore, she didn’t know how she was going to go about bringing the other two under her control.

  Since she had returned from the mission in the City of Ghosts, Riddick and Jagger had been her biggest fans. They did nearly everything she wanted whenever she wanted it done. Quinn, on the other hand… she could feel herself losing control of him.

  Every day, he seemed a little bit more wary of her. She chalked it up to him not understanding her decision about the baby, and that could be rectified as soon as she finally decided if she wanted to keep it or not.

  Kayla had grown up in a world where survival was more important than anything else. She knew how to end a pregnancy. It was common knowledge. She had the herbs and minerals tucked away in a safe place, hidden under the floorboards in her bedroom. All she had to do was mix the concoction and drink it, and nature would take its course. But time was running out. Once the seed had taken strongly enough in her womb, it would become nearly impossible to rid herself of it. Her stomach rumbled with nausea, and she took a deep breath, standing from the table. “I think I’m going to get some fresh air.”

  She whistled for Bane and grabbed her bow and quiver on the way outside. Hunting was one of the few things she shared with her old self. She had not lost her skill when she’d become stronger, though her reason for the sport had. She loved the feeling of gaining power over another creature during that split second when she ended its life. It was glorious and pure and filled her with a sense of exhilaration that couldn’t be matched.

  The fall season had turned to winter. The branches had lost all their leaves, and the forest lay bare. She hurried off into the woods, following a boar’s trail until she found one rooting in the underbrush. She hunkered down behind a tree. She nocked an arrow, pulled back, and let it fly. It pierced through the air, hitting the boar in the heart. The animal fell with a squeal and thumped on the ground.

  She stood, pursing her lips, feeling almost disappointed. Next time, she would have to aim at something that wouldn’t be immediately fatal. It was terribly unsatisfying when they died so quickly. She began to walk toward it when her stomach rebelled, and she emptied breakfast right onto her shoes. She heard the sound of footsteps behind her and whirled, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

  “I know you’re not well,” Jagger said. “You need to go to Quinn for healing.”

  She let out a deep breath. He was onto her, and she couldn’t lie anymore. She had to make a decision right there and then. “I’m pregnant,” she said. “I didn’t want to tell you until I was sure I wouldn’t lose it.”

  He swept her into his arms despite the stench of vomit on her shoes and held her tightly against him. “Oh, Kayla,” he murmured. “This is such good news. How long has it been?”

  “Two months, give or take.”

  “Do you know whose… never mind. It doesn’t matter.”

  Kayla had to de
termine whether it would be more advantageous to tell him she knew it was Riddick’s or to let him assume it could be his. “I don’t know whose baby it is. It could be any one of you.”

  “I shouldn’t have asked. I will love the child as my own no matter what.” He cupped her cheek and gazed into her eyes with such loving adoration she felt she might throw up again.

  “Will you help me bring the boar back to the village.”

  “Of course. You need to think about the baby now, my love. You can’t be out here risking your safety or pulling back these heavy animals on your own anymore. Promise me that you won’t.”

  “I vow to take it easy for the rest of my pregnancy,” she said, placing her hand on her heart with mock sincerity.

  “That’s my good girl,” he said.

  His words were so condescending that she lifted her bow, nocked an arrow, and aimed it right at his back as he bent to tie up the boar. She thought for a moment about how it would feel to take down Jagger Blackfang. The idea of it coiled in the base of her spine and ignited her brain, but she lowered her bow. It would not serve her purpose to kill him. Not yet.

  She would work to correct his condescension. If it didn’t improve, she would reconsider her decision. He tied up the boar and began to pull it back to the village. They walked together through the forest, and when they arrived at the butcher’s, he turned to her and took her hands.

  “Are you going to tell the others?”

  “I suppose now is as good a time as any.”

  “Let’s do it tonight when everyone gathers for dinner. It’s probably best to say it all at once.”

  “You should know that Quinn already knows.”

  “Quinn knows?”

  “He sensed it when he was healing my wounds.”

  “And you kept it from me all this time?” His voice was low.

  She wasn’t sure how to get out of it. She had to come up with a plausible reason other than the truth for not telling him. No one could ever know she’d considered not keeping it.

  “I just wanted to protect you from disappointment if the pregnancy didn’t stick. You know, I had that injury, and then with winter coming and all the stress of the ghosts… I just didn’t know if my body would be able to hold on to the tiny new life growing inside me.” She grasped at her stomach and let her eyes grow big and dewy like the sweet, sensitive girl she had once been. “I just didn’t want to hurt you.”

  He sighed and put his hand on her shoulder, caressing her flesh with his thumb as he looked at her with so much compassion that she knew that she had him wrapped around her finger. “I understand, Kayla. But you know you can count on me. You don’t have to be the strong one all the time. I’m here for you.”

  “I know you are, Jagger.” She gripped his elbow in her palm, returning his affectionate gesture by slightly rubbing his flesh with her fingers. “I want to protect you as much as you want to protect me. Can’t you understand that?”

  “Being the strongest alpha wolf in the world comes with a great deal of responsibility, but there is no reason for you to have to shoulder the burden of these things on your own. I am your mate, and my shoulders are strong. You can depend on me. That’s what I’m here for.”

  “I know, my love. I’ll try to remember that I don’t have to deal with everything on my own. It’s a lesson I’m still trying to learn.”

  “That’s a good girl,” he said again.

  Kayla gritted her teeth and flashed him a fake smile. If he said that to her one more time, she was going to bite his dick off. But she cupped his cheek and kissed him gently on the lips anyway.

  “Now, let’s get you inside and get your feet up. I’ll get you a glass of warm milk with honey. How does that sound?”

  “It sounds absolutely perfect. What did I do to deserve you?” What had she done to be cursed with him was more like it.

  He took her hand and guided her back to the house, where she sat on one of the couches that had been reupholstered and cleaned up from the precataclysm days. He put her feet up on a stool and went to the kitchen to warm milk in a pan on the wood-burning stove.

  She sighed and rolled her eyes as she looked out the front window at the village beyond. The villagers were going about their lives, doing their simple duties. She told herself that it wouldn’t be much longer. Soon, she would have them directed toward something much more important than their tiny concerns.

  Jagger returned to the living room and handed her the mug. She sipped it carefully, and the warm milk slid down her throat and into her troubled belly. She had to admit that it actually helped.

  The brothers all gathered for dinner later that night, sitting around the table and eating pork ribs from the kill she’d made that day. Jagger looked at her expectantly and cleared his throat.

  She glanced from him to Quinn and then at the other three brothers. She let out a deep breath then plastered a cheery expression on her face. “I have something important to share,” she said. “You have probably noticed I haven’t been well since returning from the City of Ghosts. You see, I’m pregnant.”

  “You’re pregnant?” Riddick asked. “You’re pregnant?”

  “Yes, Riddick, I’m pregnant.”

  “It’s mine, isn’t it?” His tone had an air of self-congratulation.

  “I don’t know whose it is. It could be any of yours. I’m not sure exactly when it happened. I had already missed a cycle before we left,” she lied.

  “Oh,” he said.

  “But it just as likely could be yours.” She patted his cheek.

  “We will all be the child’s father no matter who the sire is,” Jagger said.

  “We’ll be his father too,” Sid said, nudging Felix.

  Felix was staring at a book, completely uninterested in the dinner conversation. “Yes. Of course.”

  Kayla squinted at Felix, examining the studious young wolf for a long time. He was the one other than Quinn whom she felt the least capable of controlling—not because he had any insight into her as a person, as Quinn did, but because he showed so little interest in her at all.

  “The child will be born in the summer,” she continued.

  “A summer baby,” Riddick said. “What wonderful news.” He leaned over and took her in his arms, gathering her up and impetuously crushing her against him. He smelled of body odor, and she wanted to push him away, but she relented to his embrace and tried to smile when he finally released her.

  “Our summer baby. It will be such a blessing for the pack.”

  “To Kayla and our baby,” Jagger said, raising his mug of beer.

  The other brothers participated in the toast, and Kayla just sat there, smiling and accepting the congratulations as if it meant anything to her at all. She glanced at Quinn and gave him a beguiling smile. But the look in his eyes told her he didn’t buy it.

  He could see behind her façade. He knew she had changed.

  If any one of the Blackfang brothers should die, it was him.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Winter fell on Mist Valley, and the snow grew so dense and deep that it rose up around the log cabins of the village. Quinn spent less time in his cave, seeking warmth. He moved out from the house he shared with his brothers and Kayla, giving the excuse that he needed to be alone with his goddess. In truth, it was just too hard to be around Kayla.

  He’d taken a tiny hunting cabin that was used by the hunters in the summer but was largely ignored in the cold. It only had a fireplace, a bed, and a table and chairs. But that was all he needed.

  As the wind whipped outside his window and shook through the thin mud plaster between the logs, he rubbed his hands and held them over the fire. It was only meant to be a temporary shelter, but it was better than being around whatever Kayla had become.

  He saw the eyes of the people in the village. They didn’t understand why he would want to be separated from Kayla during her pregnancy. He supposed they thought him selfish, but that didn’t stop them from coming to him for healing or
advice.

  He looked at the flickering flames and the glowing embers in the darkness of his cabin. He’d huddled up close to the small fire in the tiny hearth. He held a bit of meat over the flames, cooking it on an iron rod. Since Kayla had progressed into her second trimester, her new personality had become even more evident to him. His brothers still didn’t see it, but she had become quite proficient in covering it up.

  Sometimes he hoped he had just imagined it all. But then he would catch a look in her eye or tone of her voice or some sharp condescending remark that she made to the people around her. She would later apologize and make an excuse that it was just pregnancy hormones making her touchy.

  There was a knock at his door, and he set his stick down. He found Willa standing in the snow outside, looking frazzled and angry. Her emotions were rolling off her like a waterfall during a flood.

  “Can I come in? I need to talk to you.”

  Quinn shut the door as Willa sat down at his table, narrowly missing the iron rod sticking out of the fireplace. He sat down and tested the meat before giving it a nibble.

  “Did I interrupt your dinner?”

  “Tell me what’s wrong.” He pulled the venison off the roasting stick and onto a plate.

  “It’s Kayla.”

  “Yes?” He wasn’t surprised.

  “I hate to tell you this, Quinn. I know she is your mate and you love her and I should forgive her because she’s pregnant, but—”

  “You can be honest with me, Willa. You have done so much for my pack and my people. We owe you a great deal.” He sliced the meat and popped a piece into his mouth.

  “It’s just that her insults have become intolerable.”

  “What did she say this time?”

  “She is gathering the forces of the shifter packs and clans. They seem more than willing to follow her. A new raven arrives every day. After the last message arrived, she flippantly told me that I would be lucky if I survived the coming war. And I tamed the ravens for her!”

  “She said what?” Quinn rested his fork and knife midslice.