I snorted, sliding my unimpressed gaze down his body. Carlson growled, but my body didn’t respond as it grew in sound. Saint examined me as I turned my lip up at Carlson’s weak attempt to make me react. Saint growled from deep in his chest, and I lifted my ass, whimpering as my legs threatened to give out. Eryx smirked, canting his head as his nostrils flared.
“And so the ice princess melted, and her pussy wept to be filled.” Eryx smiled with darkness peeking out from within him that terrified me. Out of all Saint’s friends, Eryx was the most twisted and insane. The fucker had worn a suit to battle, merely rolling up his sleeves as if he’d worried about getting them dirty.
“Fucking whore,” Carlson snapped, spitting on the ground in a show of disrespect.
“Just not whore enough to trip and land on your dick, though, right?” I taunted, watching the anger pulse through him.
“I ought to wreck your fucking vagina, bitch.”
“Let’s be honest here, Carlson. The only vagina you’ve ever wrecked was your mother’s when you came out of it. From the stories I’ve heard from your betas, you’re rather—lacking down there,” I laughed, watching the anger reach a boil as his eyes turned crimson.
The men holding me snorted and chuckled as Carlson lunged toward me. Saint’s fist landed against Carlson’s face, slamming him back without warning. Carlson sailed backward, turning his attention on the larger threat present. The pack went crazy, howling and cheering as they watched two evenly matched alphas face off together. Fucking savages.
Even I enjoyed watching Saint beating the fuck out of the other alpha. Carlson threw a punch, and Saint dodged it, his body, a rippling mass of sinewy muscles, glistening in the torchlights. Saint was toned in all the right places, and the tattoos he’d chosen to adorn his skin fit him perfectly, contouring against his muscles. Saint’s anger fueled the crowd as his skilled moves fed them energy.
Saint fighting was a sight to behold. He dodged every attack easily, landing several hard punches in the process. His body pulsed and tensed, moving fluidly like a dance. My body hummed with lust, undeniably so. His scent filled the air, forcing my wolf to the front of my mind. My nipples hardened, and when Bowen noticed, he strummed his thumb over the tank top that covered them while grunting in my ear.
“He fucks like he fights, Princess. Hard, fast, and with no fucking mercy against those who betray him or touches what belongs to him. Saint is going to enjoy your pretty screams,” Bowen growled. Eryx turned toward me, his mouth slanting up into a wicked smile that made his maddening, dark eyes sparkle.
Saint howled, forcing our attention back to him. He stood in the middle of the courtyard, holding Carlson’s severed head, announcing himself the new alpha of the pack. It was a loud, mighty howl that forced the pack to their knees. Even I tried to drop, but the arms holding me prevented my body from doing what it demanded I do. Submit.
Green-blue eyes slid to mine before Saint tossed Carlson’s head toward me. He rolled his neck, and before I could react, Saint used his power to slam against me, forcing me to the ground. My body thudded against it, and when he lowered to me, I immediately wrapped my legs around Saint’s waist as his teeth pushed into my shoulder, claiming me.
Pleasure and pain fought against one another. My eyes stared up sightlessly, seeing nothing past the red-haze of lust his mouth against my flesh created. Saint pushed his cock against my apex, slowly licking over the mating mark he’d placed on my shoulder, declaring me off-limits to everyone else—everyone except the men, who watched us with molten lust burning in their stares. He slammed his fist into the ground beside my head, studying me as I gasped at the need he’d created.
“Now, you’re mine, Brat. Eryx, have the women set up the mating bed. Bowen, get the whiskey and alcohol flowing. The rest of you, murder those Carlson brought with him and give the women a choice to join us or die with their alpha. Phen, ensure everything is ready for me to mate my little bitch the moment that moon rises tonight. I’m not chancing her escaping me again.” Saint pulled me up, forcing me to walk forward toward the lodge. “Move, you need to bathe before the mating, Brat.”
I started forward, sliding my eyes to the pack where Toralei stood. Panic ripped through me, knowing that if she was here, so were the children. My stomach churned, and Saint grabbed my arm, dragging me past her as I dug my feet in, staring at her.
“Walk, or I’ll carry you, Braelyn. You still need to learn the terms of your surrender. Unless, of course, you prefer we all come to your bedroom, and you entertain us?”
I swallowed past the lump in my throat, walking with Saint out of the courtyard. I could hear the pack already descending on the bodies of dead alphas, which would be consumed as a show of disrespect. It was one reason I’d been able to keep my shit together. Saint’s men had taunted me about fucking me on my father’s grave, but honorless alphas weren’t buried; they were consumed and shat out as a statement of how the pack truly felt about them.
The lodge’s broken doors came into view. Saint’s people were already repairing the ax holes, or, more to the point, patching them from the enormous holes he’d made to remove the board that had barred it. Inside, Saint refused to release my wrist as he dragged me behind him. My pride was hurt, but I wasn’t upset about his return. The timing had been shit, but what would he have done if he’d shown up after the coup had happened? Too bad I’d never know.
Chapter Four
In my bedroom, Saint closed the door behind him, sealing out the world. My body shivered violently, battling the combination of lust and bloodlust, which to our kind, was harder to do when both were present. We were savages derived from Viking bloodlines.
“Strip,” Saint ordered, forcing my head to whip in his direction.
“You want me to sit at your feet too? You best be offering me some treats if you expect me to do tricks.” His eyes sparkled as he moved toward me, his body pulsing, still bathed in the blood of my father and Carlson. I was covered in it, too, my mouth caked in the blood from my father’s heart.
Saint didn’t take the bait. Instead, he leaned against my dresser, studying me like cornered prey. I stood awkwardly, noting every single contour of his chest on display. He hadn’t been this brazen before I’d banished him. He’d hardly ever gone shirtless, and if this was a new habit, I could get behind it.
Looking at Saint, I noticed the same darkness in his eyes that his men now had. It made me curious to know where they’d been, what they’d done while I’d been stuck on this mountain, picking up the slack from my deadbeat father. He’d never lifted a finger to help the pack, forcing me to do it through members of the pack loyal to me. I pretended to be a dutiful daughter, but I secretly ran the pack since before my tits had even blossomed.
My entire life went to shit when my father murdered my mother for birthing only female offspring. On her second pregnancy, the midwife announced she carried yet another female. My father caught her off guard, murdering her while I’d stood in the room, watching. The problem for him was that I held the pack through my ancient, powerful bloodline, traced back to the first wolves created by our god, Fenrir.
If it hadn’t been for Fenrir’s blood running through my veins, I had no disillusion that my father would have murdered me on that floor right beside my loving mother. I hadn’t made a single noise when he killed her, bashing her head into nothing more than an unrecognizable mess. She’d taught me to hide my fear and to protect and control how I reacted to it. It was just an emotion, after all. A useless one that enemies would exploit the moment they scented it.