“You forgot to mention that fact she purrs for you. She also answers your rattle, and no female has ever responded to your rattle, not even Liliana. You also purred to approve her actions; you don’t do that for bed partners. You barely fucking did it for my sister. Why would you do it for some whore you’re fucking?” Killian stared me down, challenging me again.
“Careful, Killian,” I warned cautiously. “I purred to calm a newborn creature, one who could have jeopardized everything we are trying to achieve here. Don’t make it into something it isn’t. I have no idea what the fuck she is, but I know that if she becomes unhinged, we won’t get the original bloodlines into that portal, and we won’t be able to contain them if they fucking scatter to hide from a beast that doesn’t belong here. Make no mistake, Aria is a beast, one that could easily be set off and destroy everything we’ve been working to build for the past five hundred years.”
“Then snap her fucking neck and be done with her.” Killian glowered at me with accusation burning in his eyes; his challenges were getting on my last fucking nerve.
“And add more enemies to the growing list? Why the fuck not?” I asked, watching him as that tidbit sank in. “We don’t know who fathered her, but we do know whoever it was, they’re fucking powerful, that much is clear from the little bitch that he sired, but sure, let’s fucking snap her neck.”
“No,” Brander whispered, scrubbing his hand down his face and shaking his head before exhaling deeply. “If her father has the ear of the council to the rebellion, he isn’t just a king; he’s a king over one of the beast kingdoms. If he is a king of beasts, or something even fucking higher than that, it means Aria’s father is one of us. She’s the daughter of one of our fucking allies, so whatever we do with her, we tread carefully. Killing her could cause more problems than we can handle. I’d rather not murder the daughter to one of the leaders of an entire army and lose them as we prepare to march that army on the witches.”
“It changes nothing.” I wasn’t letting go of Aria without a fight, that much was certain. “Her father fucked Freya Hecate, and by doing so, he condemned Aria to death or imprisonment. The witches have to die, but they have to do it within the Nine Realms. Unless we find another way to achieve the end goal without ending her life, we stick to the plan—and she remains on the kill list.”
“And lose an ally?” Killian frowned, shaking his head. “I don’t think that is the wisest choice, Knox.”
“Which is it, Killian? You wanted her dead, now you want her alive. It cannot be both ways.”
“I want you not to destroy the image of my sister while you fuck that whore!” he snapped as he balled his hands into fists.
“I only told you how she responded to my cock to show you she was like us. She is just fucking like us. Our kind mates once in a lifetime, Killian. Liliana was my mate. She was also the love of my life, but she left me. Liliana also chose to leave you too, asshole. Liliana took my anchor with her, and now I grasp onto anything I can to keep from becoming the monster the rebellion wanted me to be.
“The witches took my family from me to enrage me enough to throw the first punch. I have waited over five hundred years for revenge, and some sweet as sin pussy isn’t changing my mind. I became the monster the rebellion wanted me to be. The witches never expected us to rise against them, but we shall. We’re about to hit them where it hurts the most. But Aria Hecate is the strongest tool they have in their toolbox. That’s a fucking problem for the witches because I have Aria within my grasp, and she wears my name on her pretty cunt, as you so delicately put it. I walked in and claimed their most powerful fucking fighter, and yeah, I mounted her and fucking liked it. The thing is, I have her, and they can’t stop that now.”
“You’re a problem solver; figure that shit out. Just know that she’s your fucking enemy, and try to remember that when you’re fucking her slit, bro,” Killian said, nodding as he exhaled.
“I’m very aware of who is sliding down my cock, and that she’s my enemy. She, on the other hand, has no idea what or who I am, or that she’s mine now. Aria is brilliant, but she’s young and innocent. I’m not. I claimed her, and yeah, she’s one of them. She’s also unable to deny that claim, making her something that cannot be wielded against us in the upcoming war. The fucking king took their queen, and there isn’t dick they can do about it. Checkmate.”
“That’s true. You walked right in and slapped the little bitch with your dick, and took her from their arsenal,” Lore chuckled, shaking his platinum head. “You didn’t ask my advice, but here it is. Take her, keep her where they won’t find her, and turn her to our side. You do that, and we’ve already won this war before we even marched against them.”
“That won’t happen. Aria isn’t the type to turn against her blood. She’s loyal, and that is a fucking problem; taking her, though, that won’t be. I guess we will see where she lands when we lay siege to this town,” I muttered, scrubbing my hand down my face with frustration.
I studied Killian, frowning as I realized that I couldn’t wholly recall Liliana’s face anymore, just a ghostly image when I tried, which then faded into Aria. Where her shining eyes had once haunted me, Aria’s had replaced them. Where she would haunt my nightmares, I now dreamt of the sweet noises Aria made when I fucked her. I used to crave the sound of Liliana laughing, but now I craved the taste of Aria’s lips and the sideward angle of her head when she was thinking hard right before she bit that sexy as fuck bottom lip.
I’d had to be gentle with Liliana, careful with her fragile body, not Aria. Aria, I fucking destroyed and went to war against in bed, and she fought back. She fucking roared for more, purring when I got harder, even before she’d been consumed by flames. It was something my kind did, but hers was rawer, and fuck if I didn’t purr right back.
I had tried to convince myself that it was because I was protecting our plans, but her sexy little purr tugged at everything inside of me. Liliana hadn’t ever purred, and when I did, it had been an afterthought. Something I did for her because I wanted to, not because it came automatically. Aria, I fucking had to because everything within me demanded it. I’d never bitten Liliana, but Aria took my bite, and if I didn’t heal it fast enough for her, she did it her damn self.
I’d hated no one as much—or wanted them while hating them—as I did Aria. The feelings conflicted with one another, not that it mattered. I’d started a fucking war, and I had to finish it. There was no other way out of it now. Too many pieces were in play, and too many lives depended on this not being fucked before we even threw the first punch. No, no matter how much I wanted it otherwise, Aria couldn’t be saved, and neither could her sisters.
Chapter 49
Aria
I studied the posture of the few alphas that had invaded our house and currently stood spread out everywhere, which had my anxiety on edge. They were pointing to places on a grid map, indicating new portal holes. It wouldn’t have been such a huge deal, except four of the largest holes were scattered in the backwoods on our property.