Spoils of War Read online

  “From what Reign says, the ballroom was full of wolf shifters, yet none of them sprang to his defense.”

  He was right.

  “I don’t know why no one else stood up for Reign. It was cowardly not to.”

  Dark brows furrowing, War looked at her like he knew something she didn’t. Afraid to ask, she kept right on talking. “If you could protect me just for a little while, I’ll be indebted to you. And I know it isn’t much, the fealty of a lowly RedRun wolf, but it’s all I have to offer.”

  Something stirred low in her belly when War’s eyes flashed for just a moment.

  His voice was a little too low, almost a growl when he said, “As you wish.”

  War stalked slowly toward her, and Nora couldn’t help but think how his movements seemed almost vulturine. Was it because she was lying there helpless? Or was it because she knew he was about to sink his teeth into her.

  When he got to the bed and sank down onto the mattress near her hip, War flashed her a grin that was belied by the gravity in his eyes. Biting and marking was serious business for wolves. It meant something; it proved something. And, yeah, maybe this wasn’t the best idea she’d ever had, but when War had been about to walk out and leave her all alone while her limbs weren’t working and with her wolf in a deep sleep, she’d panicked. This right now was a matter of self-preservation and something else. Something in her gut told her to prove to War that she wasn’t opposed to bowing to his will where her protection was concerned. She’d all but insulted him earlier and had instantly regretted it when she’d found out who he was. War was known as the King Wolf. He was the most-feared and most highly revered Alpha in existence, and Nora didn’t put it past him to just toss her out on her ass if she continued to be contrary. The last thing War needed was to have to deal with the nuisance that was her incapacitated self. Sure she’d vowed to be indebted to him if he protected her, but what was that worth to a shifter like him? The fealty of a she-wolf from a little-known pack meant nothing to an Alpha like War Vox. So all Nora could do was follow his lead as directed. She needed to be a good little guest wolf until her animal roused, and once she was able to move, she’d be gone.

  Staring at her intently, War eyed her throat. He looked at the side that hurt, the side Reign had already bitten, and winced. “You sure about this?”

  Hell no! She was absolutely zero percent sure about this, but she needed protection, and wearing the mark of the Alpha was as well protected as she was going to get!

  “Y-yes, I’m ready.”

  She had zero difficulty baring her throat to War because aside from the fact that he was an Alpha and much more dominant than her, her wolf was still asleep and therefore couldn’t posture up.

  Letting her head roll to the side, Nora exposed her throat.

  “I’ll make it quick and be as gentle as I can.”

  Her heart was jackhammering in her chest, but she tried to hide it as she said, “I appreciate that.”

  Lowering his mouth, War’s breath fanned across her skin and had goose bumps rising all along her arms and legs. Dipping his head even lower, War stalled a minute, and Nora wondered at the reason. Her wondering was short-lived though as all thought was ripped away when a fierce pain shot through. War’s teeth pierced her skin, and he had to bite deep to ensure his mark took. Nora didn’t have to worry about permanent scars because a wolf shifter’s bite only stayed on his actual mate. War’s mark on her would last only a few days before her shifter healing removed all traces, but that’d be fine because once her shifter healing was back, it’d mean she was well enough to leave.

  Stifling a little gasp as she felt War’s mouth tug on her sensitive throat, Nora felt panic rise when the Alpha didn’t immediately release her from his jaws and pull back. No, his mouth lingered on her, and the more his lips tugged on her throat, the more aroused she became. Eyes falling closed, a little sigh left her lips. Her hands tingled to grip his shoulders, but she was helpless to do anything but lie there and let the Alpha do as he pleased. And just what was it he was doing? A marking was just that, a bite and nothing else, but Nora swore that War was drinking from her. It felt exactly the same as what Reign had done to her except that this was . . . enjoyable.

  Biting back a moan, Nora pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and struggled to keep from coming. War’s mouth tugging on her skin felt like it was latched onto her clit, and with each pull of his mouth, she was being wound tighter and tighter.

  Oh God! She was gonna . . .

  “War!” she begged, and just as she was about to tip over the edge, War released her and jerked back.

  ***

  A mistake. A mistake. This is a mistake! Inwardly, War knew that he shouldn’t be marking Nora. Honestly, he didn’t really need to. If he told his wolves to stay the fuck away from her, they’d do exactly as he commanded. But something, some deep-seated compulsion, had him doing the unthinkable. He was marking an unmated Alpha She to let his pack believe he was claiming her as his. Dumb! But as his teeth slid into her throat and the explosive taste of her hit his tongue, possessiveness ripped through him so fiercely that it was nearly blinding. And holy hell! The taste of her! War couldn’t seem to stop himself from swallowing down some of her sweet blood that he swore went straight to his dick. He was hard in a blink and had to fight to keep from coming just from biting her. When the scent of her arousal filled his nose, he nearly lost control.

  Ffffffuck!

  Forcing himself to pull his teeth free, War shoved away from Nora with a snarl. Eyes lowering to her neck, he noted that she wasn’t bleeding much. He knew it was because she was still recovering from Reign drinking from her, and for some reason the sudden thought of Reign with his teeth in Nora had rage slamming into War like a sledgehammer. Hell, he hadn’t really cared earlier, but now . . . now, he felt like he had some claim on Nora. It’s how the bite worked. It was a show of ownership, and it was a dumbass thing for him to do because now he’d tethered himself to her. Even though it was temporary, even as insignificant as a bite was without the words and the claiming, War couldn’t ignore the fact that his inner wolf was right there. His beast wasn’t pacing beneath the surface. No, his animal was pressed right up against his skin, lending his teeth to the false marking. War was fighting a full-on shift, and that wasn’t good. His animal was invested in this mark. He’d just done something he wasn’t sure he’d be able to undo, and it was epically fucking stupid because he didn’t know Nora. All he had to go by was what Reign thought of her and the two seconds he’d spent with her so far.

  Backing away from her further, War started pacing. Breathing labored, he buried a hand into his hair and then fisted the silken strands as he thought on what he’d just done. Literally five minutes ago he’d been patting himself on the back for the genius idea of marking Nora. Now, he was inwardly cursing his own epic stupidity.

  “Y-you okay?”

  Eyes darting toward Nora, he kept right on pacing. Trying to ignore the visceral need to comfort her, he bit his bottom lip hard. It was a mistake, because he could still taste her blood lingering there and it had jealousy ripping through him with the knowledge that he wasn’t the only male in existence to know just how good she tasted. His eyes shot to the full gown she wore and landed on where he knew the apex of her thighs would be beneath the material. He couldn’t stop himself from thinking that if her blood tasted this good, then her pussy would be otherworldly.

  “W-War?”

  There was a worried quiver in Nora’s voice that had War slamming to a halt. Breath still sawing in and out, he scrambled for an excuse for his odd behavior. The best he could come up with was, “You should get some sleep, Nora.”

  “I’d like to, but . . .”

  That but had him forcing himself to calm the fuck down as he paced to the bed and stared down at Nora. She looked miserable. If possible, she seemed even paler than she’d been when Reign had first arrived with her. Eyes darting between the matching wounds on her neck, War wanted to snarl for
having put Nora through even more pain when she was clearly still so weak. Big brown eyes filled with worry, she blinked up at him expectantly and had him forcing himself to calm as he plastered on a façade of composure.

  “I’m gonna stay; you don’t need to worry. Get some sleep, Nora. Your wolf needs it.”

  She nodded woodenly, almost like she didn’t know if she could believe him, so he paced to the corner of the room and planted his ass in the chair settled there. He didn’t need to force himself to stay until Nora fell asleep because his wolf was adamant that they weren’t leaving the female they’d just marked.

  Shit’s sake!

  Sitting in the darkened corner with his eyes locked on Nora from the cover of the shadows, War couldn’t keep his mind from going over what he’d just done. He should have waited. Should have felt Nora out, given her enough rope to hang herself with. Why had biting her been his go-to solution? It was idiotic and rash.

  “It’s done!” he snarled inwardly.

  Never one to dwell too long on the past, he forced himself to focus on where he and Nora went from here, because he was right: it was done and no amount of wishing was going to remove the mark currently throbbing low on her neck. His mark! Bending over, he braced his elbows on his knees, clasped his hands, and let his head drop low as he shook it slowly.

  What in the fuck have I just done?

  Chapter 9

  Nora knew that War regretted what they’d just done. She could tell the instant he jerked back that he hadn’t really thought it through. To be honest, she hadn’t either, and that wasn’t like her. She hadn’t survived all these years by making stupid decisions, but asking War Vox to mark her felt like the height of idiocy.

  She could hear him in the darkened corner of the room. His breathing was still coming in rapid pants, like he’d just run a mile. It was a testament to his emotions. She knew that if her nose worked, she’d smell anger and regret, and that had her worried. Did he feel like she’d duped him? Honestly, they’d both been too quick to agree to the marking. He could have offered to simply remain by her side until her wolf came back to her. He could have locked her up and said she was a prisoner, and that would have kept her safe . . . maybe. Hell, there was any number of solutions to their problem, but they’d taken the most foolish one.

  It’s a good thing his mark isn’t permanent.

  If he was this mad now, she couldn’t imagine how enraged he’d become if his mark actually took. Swallowing hard, she couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if that were actually the case.

  What if his mark stays?

  Eyes locked on where she could feel him watching her from the shadows, she felt unease slither through her.

  Don’t be stupid, of course it won’t take! You are not War Vox’s mate.

  She couldn’t be, it’d cause too many problems, the first of which being that she didn’t want to stay at the Fortress.

  Tearing her eyes from the corner of the room, she forced her eyes closed and tried to concentrate on resting. It was damn hard to do. Being in the sights of a dominant Alpha was unnerving, and even now she could still feel his mark throbbing at her throat. It matched the rapid beat of her heart and had Nora struggling to slow her breathing.

  She wanted to apologize to War for being in his den. She wanted to promise to make it up to him somehow. Instead, she stayed quiet. Yeah, he was an extremely dominant Alpha. Hell, he was the most dominant Alpha she’d ever felt, but even that couldn’t force her to grovel. She wasn’t a submissive wolf, she never had been, and cowing to the mighty Alpha Vox just wasn’t going to happen. Nora was in this position because she’d saved War’s friend, and that had to count for something.

  Focusing on her inner wolf, Nora reached down deep inside and ran her fingers through her slumbering she-wolf’s fur. Soon. Soon, she’d be as good as new, and then she’d get the hell out of War’s territory. She didn’t know where she’d go to hide from Castamere, but it wouldn’t be here. This place felt dangerous in a way that running didn’t.

  Come back to me, wolf.

  Nora repeated the words over and over until the incessant chatter of her mind had her limbs going lax and the worry seeping from her as sleep finally claimed her.

  ***

  War watched Nora sleep. He hadn’t been able to take his eyes off her, not even when Tallius reached out through their pack ties and informed him that the men had been told of Nora. He was curious about their reaction and opinions, but opted to wait. They’d wait too because War answered to no one, and if there was going to be disruption in his pack over Nora’s presence, then he wanted to give his men enough time to formulate their arguments and decide on a proper course of action, because once they approached him with complaints, there’d be no going back. Each of his wolves needed to decide if a female’s presence in their ranks was something they could overlook. He understood it’d be kind of difficult to let it slide considering just a mere few days ago War had told his pack there’d be no females until the war was over, but he was Alpha, and as Alpha he was entitled to change his mind whenever he felt like it.

  In her sleep, Nora sighed a little distressed sound, and it drew War to his feet. Padding quietly closer, he stared down at her. There was color coming back into her cheeks and lips, but it wasn’t the good kind. Instead of the slight pink flush of life returning to her body, her features were dominated by a faint blue that tinged her lips and shadowed her eyes. As he watched her, a shiver racked her slight frame as her lower lip trembled.

  Shit!

  Shifters ran hot, so there was really no need for heat in the Fortress. But right now, Nora’s wolf was still buried so deep that she wasn’t lending her shifter ability of warmth to the human part of Nora.

  Crossing to the hearth, War started a fire before pacing back to the bed. Bending, he flattened a palm to Nora’s forehead and winced. She felt like ice.

  From a wardrobe in the corner, War pulled out a second rabbit-skin comforter and covered her up, but as he stood over her, she continued to shiver. Frowning at the hearth, he cursed the size of his room. It’d take a good hour before it actually started to feel comfortable to a human, and right now that’s basically what Nora was.

  Dropping into the chair in the corner, War unlaced his hiking boots and toed them off before going to the bed, peeling the comforter back, and sliding in beside Nora. His intention had been to pull her body into his so he was spooning her, but the second he lay down, the weight of his large frame on the mattress caused it to dip and had Nora rolling into him. He tensed a moment, unsure what to do, but when her shaking breath fanned his chest, he was decided. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her closer and ignored how perfectly she fit the cocoon of his body. It was hard to do, especially when she gave a contented little sigh. Clearly comfortable, Nora settled against him while War’s body stayed rigid as stone. He’d only meant to lend his warmth, but this felt . . . intimate. His wolf took notice too and kept whipping his head between War and Nora expectantly as if waiting for permission. Afraid to find out what his animal wanted permission for, War shook his head and inwardly snarled, “She’s not ours!” His wolf lowered his eyes to the mark on Nora’s neck and called War a liar, and War concentrated on the nine hundred ways he was going to wreck Reign when he saw him next.

  As if sensing his foul mood, Nora mumbled a displeased sound and tilted her face upward so that her lips were brushing against War’s Adam’s apple, and holy fuck! His dick went hard in a blink, and all thoughts of revenge on Reign vanished. One bicep was cushioning Nora’s head while War’s opposite hand was wrapped around her and flattened on her back. As if of their own accord, his gaze slid over the delicate material of her dress. Her ridiculous gown had the blanket all puffed up, and War made a mental note to snag some of his sister’s clothes from the room he had all set up for her. Peace and Nora looked to be about the same size, which was good because he sure as shit wasn’t introducing her to his pack with her looking like some Victorian damsel.

/>   Christ, his men had been so in need of female companionship lately that he expected half of them to see her boobs trying to burst free of the dress and challenge War for her. That thought had his lip hiking up in a snarl. No, his pack knew better.

  But do you?

  Obviously not. He’d marked a female under the ruse of keeping her safe and all because . . . Why? Why had he done it? Narrowing his eyes on the wall, he ignored the faint murmur of her steady heartbeat and the rapid staccato of his own.

  She might be a plant, a spy for Castamere. You have to keep her close.

  But the excuse felt hollow. It would have been just as easy to toss her ass in the dungeon and wait out Reign’s return. But if she wasn’t with Cas, if she had in fact gone out of her way to protect Reign, then they owed her. The problem was finding out the truth. How in the hell did he do that right now in the middle of a war? Easiest way was to pull her close and keep an eye on her. If she was working for Castamere, she’d be inquisitive, maybe even suggestive. Maybe she’d just slink around and try to soak up information. And the best way to catch any of that was to have her right under his nose.

  His nose. Inhaling, he drew in her scent. Fuck, she smelled good. Pressed up against her like he was, it was hard not to grind his erection against into her.

  Tossing the blankets aside, War sprang up from the bed and rushed to the far side of the room. Shoulders pressed into the stone wall behind him, he stared at Nora. Chest heaving, he shook his head at the realization that he’d actually been lying in bed with her. A woman, an absolute fucking stranger, and he’d been wrapped around her like there wasn’t a possibility that she could be spying for Castamere.

  The fuck you doing, man?