“Aria Hecate, daughter of Freya Hecate, born of Hecate,” I smirked impishly, watching as his eyes narrowed, and the tick in his jaw hammered at the mention of my last name. “These are my sisters, and I assure you, even as the king, you don’t have the authority to remove us.”
He chuckled seductively, closing the distance until he was in my space, breathing my air until there wasn’t enough for the two of us to inhale. His breath fanned my flesh; his proximity forced my neck to careen to hold his stare. He lifted his hand and brushed a single finger over my cheek as he stared me down.
“Hecate,” he hissed as if the name was something vile stuck to the tip of his tongue. “Fucking witches.” Snorting, he stared me dead in the eye as if he’d be happier with his large hands around my throat.
“Well, not sure on the fucking part, but we’re definitely witches.”
“And what is your other half, Aria Hecate? Your mother was a whore, one who slept with any creature brave enough to crawl between her thighs.”
“Me? Who knows, because as you’ve so delicately pointed out, my mother is a whore,” I noted, studying the way his eyes narrowed on me as he lifted his nose, inhaling deeply. “You want to sniff my ass too?” I assumed he was an alpha wolf, but the power radiating off of him wasn’t anything I’d felt before.
“You should leave before it’s too late, witch.” His men chuckled behind him, and I narrowed my eyes on him, letting my eyes slide down his frame before coming up to frown as if he were lacking. “Your kind is nothing but fucking trouble.”
“You don’t know me, so I suggest you stop stereotyping me with other witches. I’m not leaving because some asshole tells me to leave. I have it on good authority that, at this moment, no Hecate witch sits on the council, which means there is a line to get into this realm that isn’t getting pushed through. Tell me I’m wrong, oh great King of Haven Falls?” He stared me down with coldness in his gaze that sent ice humming through my veins. “Without one on the council, the covenant cannot award citizenship to immortals wishing to enter this realm. They need our bloodline present to approve those applications, and the process calls for a vote from each original bloodline, or did that change when you proclaimed yourself a king?” I waited for him to say something to counter it, but his eyes just gazed into mine, until I swallowed hard, my confidence shaking as he continued to watch me chillingly. “Mmm, didn’t think so. Not even a self-proclaimed king has the authority to overthrow the covenant.”
“Aria,” he said, tasting my name on his tongue while I smirked. I had expected him to argue, not to step closer and lift my chin. His touch sent butterflies racing through my insides. “I don’t care who the fuck you are, or what last name you throw around. I own this fucking town. I will eat you for breakfast, little girl, and I enjoy eating pretty things.”
“I hope that’s not a metaphor for eating pussy! Aria is a virgin, and someone has to pop that overly ripe cherry!” Kinvara shouted, and I turned, staring at her. The entire clearing was dead silent after her words had filled it.
I blushed as the male studied me, noting the reddening in my cheeks. He smirked wolfishly, which caused my eyes to lower to his sensual mouth. I pulled my face away from his touch, shooting Kinvara a deadly glare as she shrugged innocently.
“Hey, I’m all for you getting that cherry eaten. Gods know you need to get some before you explode,” she offered, wincing.
“Shut up, Kinvara, you’re not helping the situation,” Sabine groaned.
He inspected me, unnerving me with the intensity of his stare. Lightning crashed above us, and I peered up, staring at the sky covered in dense clouds. It struck again beside us, causing my eyes to narrow as my sisters jumped. The male had yet to look away from me, and when my gaze moved back to his eyes, there was something sinister within them. The wind picked up, howling eerily, sending my hair whipping against my face. I turned my back to the male, staring at where the lightning continued to strike without stopping. I stepped back absently, unable to shake the feeling that something was in the woods, watching us.
I bumped into something hard and unmoving. I looked over my shoulder before staring up into stormy eyes that narrowed on me as he inhaled once more. The heat of his body slithered over my bare flesh, but the power he exuded was worse than the heat. Tearing my gaze from his, I watched as a dark shadow slipped from the forest.
“What the hell is that?” I whispered, barely loud enough to be heard over the crashing of the lightning as it hit the ground.
“You tell me, Aria,” he demanded, touching my waist, causing my skin to pebble into goosebumps from the single brush of his fingers.
“Mine,” it hissed as if it was the ugly little bugger, Gollum, from Lord of the Rings. “Aria Hecate is mine!” it screeched, causing me to tilt my head.
“Pass,” I muttered. “That’s not ominous or anything.”
“Come to me, Aria. Let me taste your sweetness, little one,” it continued.
I didn’t need an invitation. I exploded into action, running toward the creature as power erupted around me. It smiled, waving its hand, beckoning me closer. I stopped where it had been, turning in a full circle only to find not a single trace of the beckoning creature. My hands lifted, uprooting trees from where they attached to the ground, holding them suspended in the air as I peered around, finding no sign of the creature. Slowly and methodically, I placed the trees back into the ground. Lightning crashed beside me, and I turned, inhaling the scent of burned ozone before veering toward my sisters, running right into a chest that smelled of heavenly male.
I peered up, frowning at him suspiciously. His hands captured my waist, pulling me against him as he peered down. “Let me go now,” I stated coldly.
“Witch, huh?” he hissed. “Witches do not control the elements, nor do they have enough power on tap to uproot hundreds of trees, let alone to place them back into the ground.”
“You don’t get to fondle me or ask me questions. I don’t even know your name,” I ground out, studying him as his touch sent a pulse of electrical current racing through me.
“It’s Knox. What the fuck are you, Aria?”
“Mmm, what the hell are you? Not an alpha wolf; your eyes aren’t blue enough. Not an incubus, because you’re not oozing enough sex for me to toss my clothes down and beg you to touch me. Not a demon, because you don’t carry their scent. The writing on your arms suggest you aren’t from here, so who the fuck are you, Knox? And why are you in my town?”
“I asked you first.”
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” I whispered, licking my lips as he watched. “Let me go, asshole. I can already tell that I’m not going to like you. So, unless you plan on stealing a base, get the fuck off of me. I’m not into baseball.”
“Afraid of the bat, or just not good playing with balls?”
“It’s the balls. I always seem to make them explode unexpectedly. No one seems to like it when their balls explode prematurely.”
“That depends on within whom they explode.”
I stuttered for a retort and then clamped my mouth closed, blinking at his statement. Well, that backfired. “Keep your balls away from me.”