Spoils of War Read online

  The words, hurled carelessly into the room, had Castamere’s face pinching into an unattractive countenance of displeasure. Eyes narrowing on her, he growled, “When I’m done with Reign, I’ll deal with you.”

  His words hit her like a sledgehammer to the chest and had her rapidly beating heart stuttering to a halt. She’d been foolish to make the stand. She knew it, but fuck it all! She wasn’t about to stand idly by and watch a fellow misshape die by the hands of wolf shifters. It wasn’t happening.

  Eyeing the crowd of watching eyes, she didn’t mask her own disgust as she seethed, “Shame on you. All of you! He’s a misshape, just like us! There’s no need for this.” Her eyes sliced back to Castamere. “And if it’s a personal vendetta, it should have been handled personally!”

  Murmurs rose among the crowd and had Castamere’s sneer slipping as his eyes darted amongst his partygoers. With a huffed laugh that was too humorless to be believed, he implored, “Mere entertainment for my guests.”

  “It’s no entertainment we wish to see.”

  The orchestra silenced and more murmurs rose. Nora picked up some low whispers of agreement, and hope blossomed inside her.

  We might make it out of here!

  Castamere eyed the crowd, his face morphing into one of rage before his eyes shot back to her as he boomed, “Fine!” Jabbing a finger at her, he ordered, “Bring me the vamp and the bitch!”

  Oh gods, no!

  She couldn’t move, couldn’t even breathe as Castamere’s guards approached. Swallowing hard, she settled a hand protectively on Reign’s head, where it rested against her stomach beneath her cloak.

  From beneath the plush folds of velvet, Reign’s voice was deadly calm as he boomed, “There’s a reason I’ve lived this long, Cas.”

  The guards didn’t slow, but Reign had no way of knowing as he continued, “And as I said, you will regret this!”

  Nora sucked in a breath, and her mouth fell open to protest just as the guards reached her, but before they could even touch her something happened. One minute she was standing there, seconds away from having the guards grab her, and the next, the air around her and Reign rippled. When she blinked, everything was gone. It felt like she was in a dark tunnel, and then suddenly the edges of her vision blurred. Was she going to pass out? She blinked again, and cold air blasted her skin, sending chills skittering up her spine as her eyes struggled to focus in the dark. There were . . . walls? Blinking again rapidly to clear her vision, she swayed as her eyes adjusted. Around her waist, Reign’s hold on her tightened and was the only thing that kept her from going down.

  Walls! There were great, moss-covered stone walls close all around them, and the air was musty, heavy with the scent of damp earth that spoke of natural refrigeration and hinted that they were underground.

  Head whipping in all directions, Nora’s breathing turned erratic as she noticed there were no windows, no doors. They were in a tomb!

  “Easy, sweet wolf.”

  Reign lifted her heavy cloak off his shoulders and slowly rose to his full height.

  It was dark in the tomb, but with her wolf’s keen eyesight, Nora could see that Reign’s skin was still charred and red with blisters. It looked painful and was a direct contrast to the tall, powerful male towering over her.

  His eyes were dark as coal and hard as granite. He was tall and corded with lean muscle. Strong shoulders pressed against the delicate tattered fabric that struggled to cover his shoulders. There was damage to more than just his clothes though. Looking closer, Nora saw that the porcelain-fine skin of his shoulders and chest was marred with deep burns. Reign’s long, dark hair was singed too.

  He was a contrast to her in all ways. Where he was tall and lithe, she was short and curvy. His board-straight ebony hair hung near to his waist, while Nora’s chestnut locks were a mass of riotous curls. Reign’s skin was as fair as any Nora had ever seen, but hers was a sun-kissed bronze that spoke of her wolf’s need to be outdoors. Which reminded her, she wanted out of this tomb now!

  “Wh-where are we?”

  Reign’s cheek twitched, and he drew in a slow breath through his perfectly straight nose before his lips parted. Sharp points of his incisors peeked out, but didn’t intimidate Nora one bit. She was a wolf shifter. She had a pair of wicked incisors all her own.

  When Reign answered her, his voice was low and calm. “This is where I rest.”

  “How did . . . ?” Nora looked around and shook her head to rattle away the confusion clouding her. “How did we get here?”

  “I can teleport.”

  “What?” Nora jerked back, only now just realizing that Reign had been holding her in his arms. He didn’t release her though, and Nora felt panic rise when she realized just how strong he was. She was a she-wolf, strong as they came, but her attempt at breaking from Reign’s hold was easily thwarted by the vampire.

  “You . . . you can teleport?”

  Reign grinned a smile that made his dark eyes twinkle. “Yes.”

  “Then why didn’t you do it the instant you knew what Castamere intended?” She felt a little guilty at the bite in her tone, but she’d just made a very powerful enemy, and if it could have been avoided, she wanted to know why it hadn’t been.

  “I didn’t want to have to show my hand. It’s a gift I’ve been hiding for a very long time. It’s not something it pays to brag about or show off, but tonight . . .”

  “Tonight things went too far,” she snapped. She tried to push out of his hold again, but it was like pushing against granite. “Let me go.”

  Reign’s expression softened, going almost concerned. “I’m not going to hurt you, sweet wolf.”

  “I should hope not,” she clipped out. “I just risked my life for you.”

  “I know.” His brows dipped down as he studied her intently. “And it’s a gift I’ll not soon forget. A gift I’d like to repay.” He bowed his head, and Nora jerked back as he sniffed at her throat. “I scent no male on you.”

  Heart hammering even faster than it had been, Nora pushed harder at Reign’s chest. “That’s none of your concern!”

  His lips curled up into a smile, “Ah, but, sweet wolf, it is.”

  Chapter 2

  Angry, Nora shoved Reign hard, and this time his hold on her broke, although she wasn’t certain it wasn’t because he allowed it.

  “I’m not going to hurt you,” he repeated.

  Backing away from him, Nora shoved her thick cloak off her shoulders. She knew it exposed the heavy swell of her breasts. She’d dressed the part for the masquerade ball, which meant she was clad in an elegant, floor-length, deep scarlet gown with a beaded bodice that dipped low to expose her cleavage and cinched tight at the waist. Not ideal for fighting, but if she shifted to wolf form, it wouldn’t matter.

  “No,” Nora agreed. “You’re not going to hurt me because vampire or not, I doubt you’d last long against two hundred pounds of pissed-off she-wolf.”

  Reign huffed a quiet laugh as his eyes slid up and down her frame. His tone was weighted with mockery as an eyebrow quirked up and he drawled, “Two hundred?”

  Okay, even in her wolf’s much larger form two hundred was pushing it, but Reign didn’t need to know that.

  “I mean it,” she deflected. “If I have to fight you, I will!”

  That had Reign’s hands shooting up, palm side out in a placating gesture. “No fighting, sweet wolf.” He slowly lowered his hands. “No offense, but while you are beautiful, I bed only vampires.”

  That had some of the tightness seeping from Nora’s frame.

  “I’ve got a much greater repayment in store for you than any pleasure I could give. I’ve got something you need. Something you deserve. But first . . .”

  Reign’s eyes slowly slid from Nora’s and tracked down her cheek. The glide of his gaze was so slow and deliberate that it almost felt like a caress as it slid lower and settled on the satiny column of her throat where it lingered.

  “No!” she bit out, instan
tly knowing what he wanted.

  “Look at me, sweet wolf.” Reign made a show of holding out his arms as he lowered his chin to scan himself. “You can’t tell me that you risked your beautiful life saving mine just to let me die now.”

  Nora took in his haggard appearance. He was in bad shape. The burns on him weren’t healing the way they would be for a wolf shifter. It was something she didn’t understand because she’d never met a vampire before.

  Quietly, she breathed, “Why aren’t you healing?”

  He glanced up at her. “I need help.”

  His eyes went back to her neck and she backed up a step. “I’m not letting you bite me.”

  “I wouldn’t hurt you, sweet wol . . .”

  “Nora,” she snapped. “My name is Nora, and I’m not your sweet anything.”

  “Nora.” Reign said her name slowly, letting it roll gingerly off his tongue as if he were savoring each syllable. “Nora, I’d not harm you, not after what you just did for me. I owe you a debt, but in order for me to repay it, I need to be healed.” Lowering his head, he looked at her from beneath dark lashes. “Fully. I won’t take much,” he promised. “Just enough to get you where you need to be.”

  “I don’t know where I need to be,” she fumed. “Castamere will find out which pack I’m from. He’ll be hunting me.”

  Reign turned serious. “Are you worried for your pack? Would Castamere hurt them to find you?”

  With a feminine snort, Nora answered. “My pack is large. Larger than his. And because of the person he is, Castamere has few who are loyal to him. He pays for services he needs, but I doubt he’d be so foolish as to go up against my pack. We’re just too many. Besides, our packs live relatively close to each other and Castamere has enough enemies without adding my pack’s numbers to the mix.”

  The truth was that if Castamere went to RedRun hunting Nora, she knew her Alpha would most likely renounce her to appease the Imperial pack Alpha. She was just too new to the pack, and because she didn’t have a mate or any pups, her ties to the pack hadn’t been solidified.

  “A large pack, huh? And yet, you were at the ball alone.”

  It wasn’t a question and had Nora wondering how he knew.

  He answered her unasked question. “No one stood with you. None came to your defense or even agreed. Pack would support you, no matter the consequences.”

  “And how do you know that?”

  Reign’s smile was genuine. “I’ve got friends. Speaking of, I know a place. A place where you’ll be safe. I just . . .”

  “Need my blood,” she finished for him, tone laced with disdain. Maybe she’d made a mistake. Maybe she should have stood with Castamere. Maybe she was the one in the wrong. It had her wondering. Looking at Reign, she asked, “What did you to do Castamere? Why does he want you dead?”

  Rolling his head stiffly on his shoulders, Reign winced before lowering his gaze to Nora’s. “I’m a vampire.”

  Was that it? Yeah, Nora knew that Castamere was an elitist and thought that wolf shifters were the only true misshapes, but it felt like there was more to it. “What else?” she demanded. “Castamere wouldn’t make a show of ending you the way he tried if he were simply averse to your kind.” Flattening a hand on her chest, she implored, “I saved your life. I deserve the truth.”

  Contemplative eyes narrowing on her, Reign was silent a moment before he spoke. “You’re right. You do.”

  Reign licked his parched lips, and Nora noted how tired he looked.

  “I helped his enemy,” he answered simply. “I’m a wolf shifter ally, just not his.”

  “Whose?” She needed to know. It was important to know whose side she’d just chosen, because regardless of what Reign believed or how he saw it, Nora attempting to save him had just drawn a line in the sand for her. By association, she’d picked his side and the side of whichever pack he was aiding.

  “I’d like to show you.”

  “Tell me!” she demanded.

  Reign stared at her for long moments before finally supplying, “The WG.”

  Nora’s mouth fell open. “The War Gods? You! You’re an ally to the War Gods?”

  With a bark of laughter that must have hurt by the way Reign grabbed his chest and grimaced, he shook his head and blinked up at Nora. “I may not look it now, but I’m a threat in and of my own right. The WG and I go back a long way.”

  Nora was pacing now.

  The WG. The W fucking G!

  If she had to pick a side between them and Castamere, she’d pick the WG every time, but this was a war she wanted no part of.

  Slamming to a halt, she frowned at Reign. “We need out of here!”

  He nodded slowly. “Which I can make happen if you’d just . . .” His words died off as he eyed her throat.

  Nora glanced around the tomb looking for an escape, and when she found none, she asked, “And if I refuse?”

  When Reign’s shoulders slumped, she felt almost guilty.

  “I don’t want to force you, Nora, but I’m afraid you can’t refuse either.”

  That had her eyes narrowing to suspicious little slits.

  “You see,” Reign waved an arm around the tomb. “This is my resting place. My safe haven. The only way in or out is by teleportation. I’ve ensured it. Because you’re a wolf and relish your freedom, I won’t tell you just how far underground we actually are.”

  The words had panic tightening Nora’s chest.

  “But,” Reign continued, “I will tell you that I used the last of my strength getting us out of that ballroom and here.” He shook his head sadly. “I’m sapped.” Adding emphasis to his words, Reign walked backward, practically stumbling until his back hit the wall opposite Nora before he slid bonelessly down it. “I don’t have the strength to get us out of here,” he explained. “Not without your help. But I swear to you, Nora, on the blood of my ancestors and on my honor as a vampire, that if you grant me this one last request, I will be indebted to you,” his eyes dipped down like he was considering if he wanted to say the next words, and that made Nora believe he took his vow seriously. Finally, when he looked up, his dark eyes had hardened with resolve. “For as long as we both shall walk this earth.”

  The ground beneath Nora’s feet rumbled, and the walls around them rocked. Nora threw her hands out to steady herself as her eyes shot to the ground and then back to Reign.

  With a sad smirk, he snorted and shook his head. “A blood oath made in a vampire’s own tomb is iron-clad.” He glanced up at the ceiling. “You have until sundown to accept or decline.”

  Sundown? Nora didn’t want to stay buried in this tomb that long!

  “But as I said, I can’t teleport us out without your help.” He glanced down at himself again. “And I can’t survive much longer like this.” Dropping his arms, he relaxed back against the wall, letting his head thump against the stone as he stared across the tomb at her. “But it’s up to you, sweet wolf.”

  Chapter 3

  Nora’s heart was hammering as she stared at Reign’s lowered head. There was no other choice but to let him feed from her, but still, she stalled. Never in her life had she ever allowed anyone to injure her intentionally. The thought of offering up her throat went against every instinct in her body. For a wolf, showing throat was a sign of submission, and she wasn’t submissive, not by an inch. Still, there was no other way out, and the longer she contemplated, the more it felt like the walls were closing in.

  “Fine,” she bit out, not even bothering to hide the growl in her voice. Inside, her wolf was at full attention, hackles up with what she was about to do. “But if you try to kill me, I’m going to attack.” Lowering her chin, she glared at Reign. “And I won’t stop, not until you’re dead.”

  He waved dismissively at the tomb. “Then you will be too.”

  “Then at least I go out fighting.”

  Reign muttered something that was so low Nora didn’t quite catch it, though it sounded oddly like, “Gods he’s going to love you.” />
  “So how do we do this?” She shook out her arms like she was going into a sparring match.

  Reign grinned at the action. “It’s not that bad, Nora. I’ll make it easy, and . . .” his appreciative eyes slid up and down frame before he supplied, “pleasurable.”

  “I thought you said you only like vampires.”

  “No,” he shook his head once. “I said I only bed vampires. Feeding, though, is a different matter. So many different colors, species, ages, and types of women. You all are like the most diverse and luscious wine cellar. I wouldn’t torture myself by sticking to one particular flavor when there is enjoyment to be had by experiencing so many.” His tongue peeked out to lick across his bottom lip. “On tasting women, I never refuse, no matter the female.”

  Nora swallowed hard. She didn’t like being compared to wine, and she sure as hell didn’t want to be sampled by a vampire, but she wasn’t dying buried God knows how deep underground.

  Crossing the tomb, she stood before him. “Let’s just get it done, and you can keep your pleasure to yourself.”

  Reign stared at her oddly, a sad smile lifting his lips. “I’m not sure he deserves you.”

  Dainty brows dipping in confusion, Nora asked, “Who?”

  Reign waved off the question and held up a hand. “I’m sorry, but you’ll have to come to me.” His face looked ashen, his eyes tired as he shot her a wane smile. “Afraid I’m unable to stand at the moment.”

  Fear rippled through her. What if he died! What if he perished before she could feed him and she was stuck in this tomb forever? Fear had Nora dropping quickly to her knees.

  With his back pressed to the wall, Reign spread his legs and pulled Nora closer. “Relax,” he breathed, feeling her resistance.

  Relax, relax, relax, she chanted inwardly. It was hard to do, but she had no choice. She let Reign seat her between his legs so both of hers were settled over one of his thighs. One arm supported her back while the other brushed against her breasts as he lifted a hand and brushed her long hair off her neck. Grabbing her chin, he tilted her head and stared hungrily at her throat.