RISE OF THE LYCANS - Mates and Bonds

**One more post to go!

I can’t believe this book is almost over!!! But fear not... Rex and Storm’s books are coming, and some other easter eggs I’ve hidden in this book will eventually make sense!

Selena

Pain erupted in my body. Everything from the tips of my toes to the roots of my hair seemed to hurt. The pain was everywhere, pulsing in waves through me. It was like a fire burning in my veins.

“Come on, Princess,” I heard his voice floating through my mind. “Please don’t leave me.”

I felt like I was floating in a space between life and death. Something had happened, and I knew I had been hurt. I wanted to scream and howl in pain, but I couldn’t move. My heart picked up pace, and I was sure it would beat out of my chest.

“Stella?” I called to my wolf and heard a low chuff in response.

The metallic smell of blood was strong, and I tried to remember how I had been injured. Was my baby okay?

A low howl called through the mind link, and I knew it was Kas. I could feel him close and anxious. My wolf howled back to her mate, and he released three yaps in succession. Kas has always communicated with me in a special way.

When I was seven years old, I fell from a tree and skinned both of my knees. I was at a point in life where I enjoyed playing with the wolf side of my best friend more than the boy side. Kas let out a low whine when I threw my arms around him and cried into the fur of his neck. I remember how he licked my face and the swish of his tail as he tried to cheer me up. His wet tongue on my face made me giggle, and the succession of three yaps became his way of telling me I was okay.

At the daring age of eleven, I decided I wanted to participate in the midnight snowboard ride with the big kids. Storm was a year younger than me, but she had mastered snowboarding, and I wanted to be just as good as her. My father finally gave in and let me participate. Shortly after the ride started, I lost control of my board and ended up off the trail. I sat in the bush alone with my broken leg and cried until Kas found me. It wasn’t until I heard the three successive yaps that I knew I was okay.

When I was sixteen, I decided to take Lukas’ new car on a joy ride with Cynder. We were just outside of pack territory when a deer jumped out in the middle of the road, and I hit a tree at high speed. Ares had sent out a search party, and Kas was the first to find us. I cried when he sniffed me to check for injuries because he should have been angry with me for destroying his new car. He let out the successive yaps to let me know everything was okay.

Even now, hearing his yaps helped me calm down. I knew everything was going to be okay and that he was here. Whatever the situation was, it was over, and Lukas would take care of me. I trusted him with my life, and that gave me the peace I needed to hang on.

I took deep breaths and focused on the beating of my heart. I heard the voices in the room, but I wasn’t listening. Lukas was talking to someone, and I felt a hand touch my abdomen. A warm wave of peace washed through me, and the pain disappeared.

The voices sounded around me, but I focused on the peace and hoped the pain wouldn’t return. A warm, tingling wave flowed through my arm, and I knew he had touched me. Through his touch, I felt his love and fear. He was worried about me, and I heard the three successive yaps again.

I felt the earth shake and wondered why my mate was upset. I wanted to reach out and touch him, but I couldn’t move. The energy in the room changed, and I felt my peace turn to tension.

“Demon King,” the Goddess spoke.

“Moon Goddess,” I heard the deep timbre of his voice.

My eyes shot open, but I didn’t have the energy to turn my head. The room was very dim, and the chandelier seemed to be missing from the center of the ceiling. I could see every tiny detail in the painted ceiling above, including the burn marks on the chain dangling above me. Though it was dark in the room, my vision seemed to be sharper.

I heard someone screaming, “My King,” and Grandma asking if Tartarus was a fiery inferno like Hell. The deep voice coming from the corner of the room spoke about Hecate and her black wolves. Then he asked about a deal with the Moon Goddess and addressed her familiarly. Something was happening in a month, but I knew it had nothing to do with our world or shifters.

He left as quickly as he had arrived, and I felt myself relax, knowing that Lilith would be locked away for two thousand years. Lukas turned his gaze to me, and his blue eyes were filled with so much love. He scooped me into his arms, and I rested my head against him.

I closed my eyes and let his calming scent wash over me.

I slept… a lot. I wasn’t sure if it was the transition into a lycan or the pup that made me so exhausted. Lukas had returned me to the hotel room and catered to my every need around the clock for the last two days. He held me, bathed me, and fed me.

“Is everyone leaving today?” I asked as he dipped a chunk of fresh bread in the coq au vin sauce and held it to my mouth. I smiled as I remembered coming out of heat in this same bed, eating the same meal. I took the delicious bite from him and playfully nipped his finger.

“Pregnant or not, nothing will stop me from spanking your ass if you keep that up,” he grinned, and I plotted my next attempt to nip him again.

“Is Paris safe again?” I asked. “Did Grandma go home?”

“She left this morning after Flaym took her and Wylder to the cured meat shop to stock up.”

“What about Cynder?”

“She went home with Zane and Zander last night,” he told me, and I wondered how Wylder was holding up. As if reading my mind, he added, “Wylder is handling it better than we expected, and Zane promised to bring her to New York in a week to help with the mating ceremony.”

“Whose ceremony?”

He smiled wide and gently caressed my stomach before leaning forward and kissing my lips. “Ours.”

“What? Why so soon?”

“I love the idea of seeing you round with my pup and can’t wait to have photos of you glowing, but our mothers thought you’d want to have the ceremony before the baby comes.”

“I certainly don’t want to look like a balloon!”

“Say that again, and I’ll double your punishment,” he said, leaning in for another kiss.

“I won’t have time to design and sew my dress!”

“Jose will be coming home with us to help you,” he smiled. “Now that mate bonds can be felt, there’s going to be an explosion of mating ceremonies, and we’ll be invited to most of them.”

“Will we be expected to go to all of them?”

“It’s a good thing my father is still the Alpha King,” he grinned. “I told him I wanted to wait a year to let you settle into your new shifter form and motherhood before we’d consider a coronation.”

He used the fork to feed me the tender chicken, and I tried not to moan. This had to be my most favorite French Food. A knock sounded in the next room, and I used my new lycan senses to detect who it was.

“Persephone!”

“Drink this,” he handed me a glass of water and left to answer the door.

I listened as Lukas greeted her, and she started crying. “I hate this,” she sobbed. “Can’t you make him change his mind?”

“Your father secured the pack for your brothers,” he soothed her. “It won’t be so bad.”

“Can I stay with Grandma Dori? I promise I’ll help keep her out of trouble,” she sniffled.

“Come see Selena. She’s excited to see you.”

“Selena,” she cried out and rushed into the room.

“I don’t want to move to France!” She cried as she hugged me.

“We plan to visit often,” I told her. “Jose will still be here, and Italy and Greece are a quick flight away, so you’ll always be near family. You can even train with Valaria.”

“I wanted to train with Storm,” she cried. “You’re going to be the Lycan Queen. Can’t you make this right?”

“I know your parents will travel often for visits,” I told her. “I hear the Darc pack will be given a new name?”

“Yes, but my brothers can’t decide if they want to split it into three smaller packs or rule it as one,” she huffed.

“I suppose it all depends if they end up with the same mate or not,” Lukas said.

“What do you mean?” Persephone questioned.

Lukas shrugged, and I could tell this conversation was going to make him uncomfortable. All I could do was smile. “Well…” he started and rubbed the back of his neck. “They’re identical triplets, so theymayhave to share the same mate.”

“What! No way. Uncle Zeus and Poseidon are twins and don’t have the same mate.”

My mother’s uncles were also identical and had to share a mate, but they were werewolves, not lycans. I wasn’t going to share my thoughts on this matter with Persephone because I didn’t know how to explain a lycan knot to her. That and the idea of taking three knots simultaneously didn’t seem possible to me.

My eyes met my mate’s blue eyes, and the smirk on his face told me he was listening to my thoughts.

“How was your visit with Nightshade pack?” I asked, reaching for my glass of water.

“It was great,” she said. “I love the medieval village, and we got to hunt truffles with Uncle Luciano and Massimo.”

“You know the Darc pack is in the same territory that once belonged to the LaRue family pack?” Lukas told her.

“Really?” She asked wide-eyed.

“It’s a great honor for our family to reclaim the old LaRue lands,” he said. “Your brothers will do well.”

Lukas continued feeding me, and we sat in silence. “Have you eaten?” He asked Persephone.

“Yes, thank you,” she nodded. “How’s Jose doing?”

“He’s fine,” Lukas told her. “He came to see Grandma off this morning. Erick and Jose are going to stay in the city. Your father asked Erick to run La Tour.”

“What?” This was new to me.

Lukas nodded. “Yeah, he offered Erick a partnership in the restaurant.”

“No one tells me anything,” Persephone huffed and plopped beside me on the other side of the bed. “I thought Erick was using Jose?”

Lukas continued to feed me and explained what had transpired. He told her about the cemetery, the catacombs, the visions, the church, and the Louvre.

“We had been so close when Grandma suggested sneaking into the secret apartments!” Persephone squeaked. “Caspian wouldn’t let her, and then we got kicked out.”

“It was enchanted anyway,” Lukas told her. “I doubt you would have been able to get in.”

“Have you met your grandmother?” I laughed and took another drink of water.

“So, Erick was working with the demon?” She asked.

“Erick’s mother was being held hostage,” I told her.

“Jose had met Selena long before Erick, and then Jose met Erick at La Tour. Jules discovered Selena was linked to our pack and forced Erick to spy.”

“So, he took Erick’s mother!” She shook her head in disbelief.

“Jules was working with Lilith,” I told her and took a bite of carrot from my mate.

“Lilith is the demon, right?” She asked.

“Yes,” Lukas continued. “We think she orchestrated everything and used Jules to get her hands on Storm. She had promised the shifters lycan mates, but wanted to use Storm to help sway the Goddess.”

“Grandma said Storm looks like the Goddess,” Persephone whispered.

“She does.”

“All this for a man?” Persephone shook her head.

I wasn’t sure the Demon King was a man, and I didn’t get a good look at him. The only thing I knew for sure was that he had descended from an ancient god and had a family connection to the Moon Goddess. He was a dark and dangerous creature, and I was glad he was gone.

Jose would be safe now, and Erick was lucky to survive. I had spent most of my time sleeping because Lukas had allowed very few visitors in to see me. I hadn’t spoken to Jose or Erick yet, and I couldn’t help wondering how Pierre Darc ended up in Erick’s apartment.

“How did the bodies end up in Erick’s apartment?” I asked Lukas as he lifted the potato ladened fork to my mouth.

“They had a tumultuous relationship, and Jules had a personal vendetta. Erick was forced to lure them to his apartment for a secret meeting, and Jules finished them off. He wanted the pack and resources.”

I thought about what Jules had confessed when Grandma stabbed him in the eye. He hated his mother and brother and took pleasure in their deaths. I chewed on a chunk of bread and tried to process what Lukas said.

“Is Stella okay with the change?” Persephone asked reluctantly.

“I’ve heard a few words, and she still hums when Kas purrs,” I told her. “I think she’s okay.”

I heard three yaps in succession, and I recognized her bark. Lukas squeezed my hand, and I knew he had heard it too. She was telling us that she was okay, and visible relief swept over my mate’s face.

“My beautiful Stella is doing great,” Lukas said with pride.

“Have you been to the new pack yet?” I asked Persephone.

“No, we just arrived. Mom wants to go dress shopping for your mating ceremony while we’re here,” she huffed. “I guess I should get back to her and let you get some rest.”

“Everyone knows about the mating ceremony except me,” I smirked.

“It’s going to be a beautiful event,” Persephone said as she hugged me goodbye.

Lukas walked her to the door and returned with a wolfish grin. “All this talk about a mating ceremony, and no one has mated in two days.”

A small laugh bubbled from my throat. “Oh, I’m sure plenty of shifters have been mating these last two days.”

“What are you in the mood for, Princess? Pain or pleasure?”

“I bet that’s something you ask all the women you’ve wooed.”

A low chuckle sounded from him, and his eyes bore into me. “I’ve never wooed any females because my heart has always belonged to you.”

I didn’t know why that made me happy, but it did. Lukas was an Alpha male. He didn’t need to woo anyone because females chased after him. They tried to woo him. Whatever happened with him and other females had meant nothing. When I tried to move on with other males, I never felt right. Something had always been missing, and that something was my heart. It had always belonged to him.

“I’m sorry it took us so long to figure it out,” he said as he lowered himself to the floor beside the bed and reached for me.

The sheet pulled away, and his hands came to my thighs, stroking and caressing them. Warm tingles flowed from his touch like a brand over my skin. He lifted the hem of his t-shirt and helped me out of it before gently laying me back.

Quicker than I could blink, his hand reached up and tore away my panties.

“Lukas!” I gasped. I knew we had been intimate in every way during the mating haze, but it was called a haze for a reason. Anticipation churned in my belly, but my body knew what it wanted.

“You are never allowed to wear clothing in our bed,” he rasped. His eyes looked at me like he owned me because he always had.

His lips dropped to my knee, and that wonderful mouth of his started pressing kisses up my thigh. I sighed with pleasure and then gasped when he bit down on the sensitive flesh of my upper thigh. It wasn’t hard enough to hurt, but I knew he’d left a mark. He laved the bite to soothe it before he continued to my aching core.

My entire body jolted when his tongue finally lashed out and stoked my sensitive little bead. He groaned with pleasure, and I gasped. He was not only touching me but with every touch came the warm tingles of the mate bond to enhance the pleasure. Something I knew neither of us had experienced before.

My head tipped back, and all I could feel was mind-shattering pleasure. “This is magic,” I panted, feeling flushed and sensitive.

His dark chuckle floated through the mind link. “Wait until you have my magic dick.”