Hunters of the Gods 3_Pride of a Princess Read online

  “Get them out of here and to the next SUV. This one is done. Keuric pack is here. We’ll take out the enemies. Move them now,” he ordered. She grabbed onto the children with Malacay, and they ran from the vehicle. Luna’s head was throbbing, her shoulder burning, but she got them to the SUV just as a wolf jumped at her. She turned and fired her weapon, but he landed on top of her, roaring in pain. She shoved him from her and rolled to the right, got on her knees prepared to run. As she went to hop into the driver’s seat of the SUV, another man tackled her against the vehicle.

  She cried out in pain. He roared, and then she cringed as she heard the gunfire and looked up to see Malacay pointing a gun at the wolf and firing the weapon. The wolf fell against her, crushing her in an awkward position against the frame of the car door. She slid to the ground.

  “Luna!” Malacay yelled.

  “Is she okay?” Viper asked as he came over, and then she heard other voices.

  “Let me to her now. Move!”

  A hand caressed her hair, and then fingers went to her neck. She shoved them away. “I’m not dead, I’m in pain,” she said in a pissed-off attitude.

  As she tried getting up, after whoever checked her for a pulse removed the large dead, male body from on top of her, she exhaled and looked up. Her eyes widened, her heart began to race, and Lodge Keuric stared at her, eyes squinted. “I should have known it was you. No running away this time, sweetheart,” he said, and then he reached for her and scooped her into his arms as if she weighed nothing at all. She cringed and moaned. The pain in her shoulder, back, and head was so bad she gripped onto him and hissed against his shoulder. That move instantly brought on a surge of desire, and he knew it. “I feel it. My brothers will, too, and we’ll get to the bottom of who you are and why you keep running.”

  “You’re not taking advantage of me, Alpha,” she whispered and tried lifting her head.

  “Is she okay?” She glanced up as she heard the second male voice, deep, authoritative. His hand caressed her cheek and tilted her chin sideways. “That’s a bad cut.”

  “She’s all banged up and cut on her shoulder, too, Corporal,” Lodge said.

  “We got every one of them. I say we don’t stick around here too long. There could be others. Let’s get them into the travel trailers and secured,” another one said, and then stared at her. Squinted, inhaled, and was next to her quickly.

  “You found her?” he said to Lodge.

  “She can’t seem to stay away,” Lodge said. She squinted as her head throbbed and her body ached more with each second that passed.

  “She comes with us,” Corporal commanded. He started dishing out orders even to Viper, Bider, and Scor.

  “Luna!” Gathin appeared, a scowl on his face and taking in the sight of the Alphas of Keuric pack.

  He touched her face and went to take her into his arms, but Lodge wouldn’t let him take her from him.

  “Release her to me.”

  “Not a chance. Stand down and go clean up. We got this from here,” Lodge said, dismissing Gathin, who growled low. She didn’t want a situation. She wanted to secure Malacay and her family. That was priority.

  “No, I go with Malacay and the children. Let me down now,” she ordered, but Lodge didn’t budge and started walking with her. She gripped his shoulder and looked at Malacay and her children. “I stay with the children and the woman. That is my mission and I will complete it,” she said through clenched teeth and began to wiggle free.

  He squeezed her firmly and set her feet down. He could crush her he was so big. He stared down into her eyes, nostrils flared and breathing in her scent. “Fine, then they come with us, too. But this time no disappearing, Luna. Those days are over.”

  She glared at him, fought the attraction and instant knowledge that they were her mates. What was she going to do? As he released her and she went to walk with confidence, she nearly faltered. He reached for her, and so did Toby. “I got it. I can take care of myself,” she said to them, then turned. Malacay hugged her, and so did the children.

  “It will be okay. They are Hunters of the gods, warriors and Alphas of Keuric pack. They’ll get us to safety. It’s over,” she said with confidence she didn’t really feel. Her danger wasn’t over. In fact, something told Luna her life just got even more complicated than before. Then her cell phone rang.

  “Excuse me, please,” she said and walked over to the side of the SUV. There was still loud activity all around her, and then she heard the voice as she leaned against one of the vehicles.

  “Mates? Keuric pack?” Buschool Lemone said into the phone. The damn vampire. How the hell did he even know?

  “What? How did you—”

  “I was there, but then Cable’t showed up and in order to avoid any questions and to keep our relationship a secret, I figured he could handle the light work.”

  She took a deep breath and exhaled. It hurt and she cursed.

  “You’re hurt?”

  “Nothing I won’t be able to get over.”

  “And the wolves? How are you going to avoid them so you can handle the other situation?”

  “Hmmm, let me think, because I have all the answers.”

  “Being a wiseass right now is not going to help you. The Elders know. They say you need to avoid being marked by the Keuric Alphas.”

  She snorted, glancing behind her and seeing the three wolves watching her like hawks, but also her five fellow guards who shared her position in the organization she worked for.

  “You do know what they look like, don’t you?” she asked Buschool.

  “Well, try to resist the need for sex, virgin.”

  “From the vamp who lives to screw women and screw with their minds.”

  He clicked his tongue. “Now, now, no need to get so bitchy. This is out of your control. I can understand that, and so I’ll need to come up with a plan to get you out of their confinement.”

  “Confinement?”

  “Surely you don’t believe they are going to leave your side?”

  Her body ached something terrible. “Right now all I care about is getting Malacay and her children to safety and under the protection of Keuric pack and Saint pack.”

  “You’ll hear from Alexandra tomorrow. She can be of assistance in buying you time. However, word will spread quickly about what happened in Italy, and here in Texas, and how they were both your doing. He’ll come for you or send people to get you.”

  “Then I’ll need to be ready, now won’t I.”

  “Don’t underestimate his power, Luna. He killed your father.”

  “In doing so he awoke something in me that cannot be beaten down or destroyed. I need to go.” She ended the call and then stared off into the distance.

  She could feel the pull. The need to turn around to look at them. To see them and know they were her mates. The gods sent them to her now of all times, while the Circle forbid her to be marked by them as her mates. What was she going to do? When, not if, Costaldo found out she’d found her mates, he would kill her, and kill them, as well. Just as he killed her father. If her mother and brother were still alive, then they would die, too. She couldn’t let them mark her their woman. She needed to resist their commands. She had to, or all she had done this far was for nothing.

  * * * *

  “Down the hall, that room right there,” Corporal ordered. They had all arrived on the estate. Medics were handling injured, and others were organizing buildings to house the children and women in for now. Lodge had taken Luna’s hand and informed the Alphas that he and his brothers would be taking care of her housing arrangements for this evening. She wasn’t happy, but she was in pain. She was lucky she didn’t get killed.

  Corporal stared at Luna as Lodge helped her out of her button-down top.

  “I can do it,” she snapped at him. Lodge gripped the material around her wrist lightly, restraining her, and her lips parted as he whispered next to her.

  “I don’t mind one bit,” he said to her and then kis
sed her shoulder.

  “Lodge, don’t,” she said to him. He pulled the shirt the rest of the way off of her. She wore a tank top underneath it in black. Her long chocolate locks fell from the binding in the back, and she tried retying it.

  “Maybe you should shift to heal,” Toby suggested, just staring at her.

  “Maybe you all could leave me alone to deal with it like I usually do,” she said with attitude.

  Corporal stepped closer. The sight of her, the scent of her, and knowing she was their mate and had repeatedly disappeared on them made his wolf uneasy. He gripped her hand, and she stopped to look up at him. She didn’t even know how gorgeous and sexy she appeared standing there, breasts pouring from the lace bra and top she wore. One strap was falling from her shoulder, and he licked his lips.

  “There are things to discuss.”

  “No,” she replied.

  “Yes,” Toby countered.

  She eyed him over, and Corporal’s cock got hard and long.

  “Never deny your Alphas’ orders,” Corporal stated firmly.

  “Is that what I’m doing?” she asked, voice cracking. He couldn’t resist. She was just so sexy and that scent all-consuming. He reached up, cupped her cheek and neck as he drew her close and kissed her.

  He plunged his tongue deeper and then felt her hands grip his shirt and hold on as he explored her fully. He kissed along her mouth to her neck. She tilted her head back, held on to his head as he licked into the cup of her bra and found her nipple. He used his other hand to lift her thigh up against his hip, and he rocked his hips into her groin against her mound. He could smell her arousal.

  “Fucking beautiful,” Toby said and joined in. He kissed her neck, too, then cupped a breast. She moaned.

  “Oh, please, we have to stop. This can’t happen. I can’t allow this,” she said.

  “Why not when you’re our mate and we are yours?” Lodge asked.

  “Because it isn’t right yet. There’s so much to do, to figure out. It can’t be now.” Corporal thought it sounded as though she had problems and maybe things to solve.

  “Whatever it is, we’ll help you,” he said, and she locked gazes with him just as Lodge and Toby stopped what they were doing and stared at her. Corporal was in shock. She looked like a goddess. Breasts exposed to her areolas, top down, lips full, swollen, and wet, but tears were in her eyes. “I have too much fighting to do. People to save and my own issues to resolve.”

  “We can do that with you. I really don’t care, but you aren’t disappearing again. We stay the night and deal with the issues tomorrow,” Lodge stated.

  “No, Lodge. I’m not having sex with you tonight. I don’t even know any of you,” she said.

  “That isn’t how it works. We are your Alphas, your mates, and we command and you obey,” Lodge stated. She narrowed her eyes at him.

  “I do not accept this. You can’t force me to.” She placed her hands on her hips and cringed from the pain it caused but then growled low.

  “Technically, we can,” Toby said, holding her gaze with his serious expression.

  “Let’s slow down here before we say shit we don’t mean,” Corporal interupted.

  “I won’t be marked by you. Not anytime soon, anyway.” She pressed her fingers to her temples and closed her eyes.

  “Why don’t you soak in a nice, hot bath? We’ll grab food and some clothing for you. I believe Alexandra sent some here.”

  “Alexandra did? She knows I’m here with you?” she asked, seeming shocked as well as concerned about what her friend may think.

  “Yes. She said she was relieved and that we were to tell you she would see you for lunch tomorrow at the estate,” Corporal said. She stared at him, then at Toby and Lodge. She nodded and headed to the bathroom to soak in the tub.

  Chapter Two

  “Where is Luna now?” Costaldo asked Dunly.

  “In Texas. She succeeded in rescuing those women and children and getting them to safety on Saint and Keuric pack territories,” he replied.

  His nostrils flared. “And our men?”

  “Dead. All of them,” Dunly replied.

  Costaldo slammed his hand down on the table.

  “How the fuck could this happen? She’s one woman with only a handful of soldiers by her side.”

  “She killed Lurke. Rucko is in a rage and wants revenge, but he knows you want her as your mate. He’ll travel there to get her and bring her back. He just needs your approval to his tactics in doing so.”

  Costaldo knew what he meant. Rucko was a sadist. He enjoyed inflicting pain and torturing the prisoners. He would love to get his hands on Luna. Any wolf would, but she was his. Her body, her soul would belong to Costaldo.

  “She will resist. She may even fight to the death to not be brought back here to me. He isn’t to kill her, or to damage her so badly that she is ugly, or damaged for life. I won’t have a handicapped or scarred woman as my mate by my side as I take over what’s left of the Limorte pack. Her uncle will be on board. He knows he is losing power and control of the people.”

  “What about the mother and brother. If anyone finds out they are alive—”

  “No one will, and if need be, I’ll use them as leverage to get Luna to cooperate and submit to me. If she declines, then she dies. Now go tell Rucko he has my approval and explain the exceptions. He may want Delia’s help.”

  “Delia? The witch?” Dunly asked.

  “Yes, her potions are strong, and I for one plan on using something of hers to keep Luna under my control once she is here with me. Perhaps there’s something that can help make Rucko’s mission go more smoothly.”

  “Understood. It won’t be easy to get to her, but we do have someone on the inside,” Dunly said and then bowed his head and exited the office. He closed the door behind him.

  Costaldo looked out the window and couldn’t help but to smirk. Luna would be his. She would be under him in bed in no time.

  His cell phone rang, and he saw the private number and wondered who it was.

  “Hello?”

  “Might I suggest that you back off and find your own means to expand your pack.”

  “Who is this?”

  “You know who this is coming from, so take the call as fair warning. My master is very unhappy about your lack of security and losing such important prisoners as the last heir to the Merker pack. There’s been a coordinated attack, initiated by the ones who will eventually seek ultimate power over all packs, including yours. This is a process you’re interfering with. Stay clear of the Saint and Keuric packs. They will be going down just like the others.”

  “I have my own agenda.”

  “Which is what? To seek a mate and gain blood power over Limorte pack? That’s minor to our initiative. You have a week to grab what or who you want, and then your opportunity is lost.” The phone clicked off and Costaldo was annoyed. He knew it was the one causing all the chaos and destruction to weaker packs in the states. Now he was on a tighter time schedule. One week to grab Luna and bring her back here to Italy, to her new life and her permanent residence, in his bed, as his mate. He could care less about who would control power in the United States. He would control the power here—it was a given when mated to the princess of Limorte.

  * * * *

  “She is definitely putting up the walls and resisting us,” Lodge whispered to Corporal.

  “Look at her, though. Just knowing she is here, seeing her safe and in the flesh, calms my wolf,” Corporal replied. They walked out of the bedroom to let her rest. She was bruised up and in pain even after her bath.

  “We should be in there right now, holding her, claiming her as our mate,” Toby said in an almost growl.

  “You need to calm down. That aggressiveness will not go over well with a woman like Luna. You heard what Preston found out about her. We’ve seen her in action, and the soldiers who are part of her team are here too in the other room,” Corporal replied.

  Toby sent daggers at his brother. �
��Like I give a fuck? They keep close, then they can hear her scream out in pleasure as I claim what is mine. Especially that one soldier, Gathin,” Toby said, and Corporal widened his eyes.

  “Toby, this isn’t like you to be so cold and to say such things when you know she is our mate and not a piece of ass,” Lodge said.

  “I know she isn’t. That’s why my wolf is eager to claim her, mark her so no others can have what is mine, what is ours. This changes everything. You realize that, don’t you? This is not a mission, a one-time deal. This is our future and our lives. It can’t get fucked up. Not being able to claim her makes my wolf agitated. How about yours?” he asked them.

  “Of course it does. She will be our top priority, but also will need to learn we are her Alphas and we are to get respect,” Lodge said. Toby snorted, sounding sarcastic.

  “She took off twice, and tonight would have been no different if she weren’t injured and we weren’t right there assisting in that operation. She could have been killed. So whatever little fighting group she belongs to, it’s over. She’s done with it,” Toby stated firmly.

  “I don’t believe that the team she is part of is little. Also, the last name she gave us is bullshit. Preston said not to push, that Alexandra would explain.”

  “Wonderful, more mysteries, more wolves not identifying themselves completely. Don’t tell me she is more than a wolf,” Toby replied.

  “I don’t think it’s anything like the powers Alexandra and Alyssa have, but there has to be a connection. Luna provided security for Alexandra while Alexandra was under that spell to hide who she is,” Lodge said to them.

  “I think this is bullshit. Us walking around on pins and needles, when we should be with our mate in bed,” Toby said, then stood up and walked out of the room.

  Corporal looked at Lodge. “He has a point. It’s not easy being out here, smelling her scent and knowing she’s right behind that door. She’s gorgeous, too, and strong spirited, which I kind of like,” Lodge said to him.