#16 Bows and Arrows
Chapter 25

Adira

With his glowing eyes locked onto mine, Zale pressed his palm against my neck and ignited an erotic new feeling inside of me. I gasped and arched my back, pleasure radiating through my body from my head to my toes. My heart began to race as the warmth spread through my skin and straight to my core, reminding me that his length was still inside of me.

I wasn’t sure what happened when a dragon marked his mate and, at this point, I didn’t really care. All I wanted was the itch in my core to be scratched.

“Zale.” I groaned, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling his face towards mine.

He groaned against my mouth and finally started moving his hips again. Dropping his face against my neck and breathing in deeply, he moaned,

“You’re going to be the death of me.”

“Just shut up and move.” I growled and he chuckled at me.

“Alright,” He sighed,

Suddenly, he flipped us around so he was on his back and I was straddling him, my hands pressed against his chest as I braced myself.

“Do with me what you’d like.” He said, his hands on my hips.

I was too desperate to reach my release to care about being embarrassed. I rolled my hips and watched as a surge of pleasure rippled across his face. Now I understood why he wanted to look at me before, it was intoxicating watching what I was doing to him and it only increased my own pleasure. I reached behind his head to brace myself on the headboard and began bouncing myself on his member.

“Oh Goddess.” Zale moaned, bringing his hands up to palm my breasts.

When he pinched my nipple, it sent me spilling right over the edge. I cried out, clenching around his member just as he released himself inside of me. His hand reached between my legs to rub my nub, pushing me through the aftershocks of my orgasm.

Lucille howled in my head and I knew exactly what she wanted. Before I collapsed and had nothing left, I buried my face in his neck and allowed Lucille to take over. She extended her canines and sank them into his shoulder, pushing deeper and deeper until she was sure her mark would take.

Zale groaned and I felt his member twitch inside of me again, sputtering to life. Lucille pulled back and licked her wound closed, peppering his neck and new mark with feather light kisses before she finally gave me control again.

“Goddess, you’re a miracle, Kyrre.” Zale said, holding my face between my hands to kiss me.

I gasped and felt my body begin to tense,

“Uhm, Zale?” I stammered.

Zale smirked at me, wiggling his eyebrows mischievously.

“I’ll never hurt you, my love, but there’s nothing wrong with being a little sore.”

“Zale!” I squealed as he yanked out of me and tossed me onto the bed.

“Get up.” He said and my eyes widened,

“Excuse me?”

Zale clearly wasn’t waiting around. He grabbed my hips and yanked me towards the edge of the bed, flipping me around and pulling me up to my hands and knees. I yelped at being thrown around and then screamed as he slammed into me without mercy.

One of his hands dug into my hips and the other pushed my back down, forcing me to arch my back and press my face into the sheets.

“Who do you belong to?” Zale’s voice was dark and sexy as he plowed into me.

My vision was speckled with black spots and my mind was in a complete haze, I couldn’t even form a coherent thought. Apparently, Zale didn’t like my hesitation. He pushed himself all the way to the hilt and then froze, reaching around to squeeze my swollen nub between his fingers.

“You! I belong to you.” I cried out, panting.

“That’s right, baby.”

Rubbing me with one hand and gripping my hip painfully with the other, he slammed against me at a brushing pace. I moaned and fisted the bedsheets, holding on to keep myself from sliding down. Just as I was climbing higher, I felt his mouth latch onto my new mark and an orgasm violently ripped through me. He didn’t stop, pulling another one out of me before I felt him release inside of me too.

My elbows gave out and I collapsed onto the bed, my eyes too heavy to remain open. Zale chuckled and gathered me up in his arms, laying me down on the soft pillow at the top of my bed. I whimpered when his hands vanished from my body, but I was too exhausted to react.

A minute later, he returned and I felt something warm and wet between my legs. I groaned and squinted one eye open, trying to see what he was doing.

“Sleep, love, I’m just cleaning you up.” Zale whispered, smiling handsomely at me.

My eyes shut and I drifted off to sleep with my mate tenderly caring for me.

“Adira, love, it’s time to wake up.” Zale whispered in my ear, brushing the hair back from my face.

I grumbled and shoved his hand away, pressing my face in the pillow to try and ignore him. Zale chuckled and then I was being pulled from the pillow, forced into a sitting position. My eyes opened into slits and I glared at Zale’s stupid face that was right in front of mine.

“It’s 2:30.” He said and I groaned,

“We were supposed to be resting.” I complained and Zale laughed at me,

“You weren’t complaining when we weren’t sleeping.” He said,

I punched his chest and escaped his grasp, blindly walking into the bathroom. I quickly washed my face with cold water to try and wake myself up, patting my face dry and catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I turned my head to the side and leaned across the vanity, examining my new mark.

There was a wolf howling at the invisible sky and a dragon with its tail wrapped protectively around the wolf. Zale walked up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and showing off his own mark in the mirror. It looked just like mine, but instead of looking like a brand, it looked more like a scar.

“Beautiful.” He whispered, leaning down to kiss my mark.

I shuttered and turned around in his arms, slamming my lips against his. Zale chuckled against my mouth and pulled me away,

“These are lips that men go to war over, you know?” He smirked, “And if we weren’t going to war in 30 minutes, I’d ravedge your entire body with mine.”

“The war will end eventually.” I said and his grin got wider,

“Now, that’s something to look forward to,” He leaned down to kiss me again, “We better go.” He said with a pained expression, his eyes trailing greedily over my body.

I quickly washed up and gathered my clothes from the floor. Zale laughed as he watched me searching under the bed for my underwear and that earned him a strong punch to the stomach. Dressed in my Archer uniform and strapped for battle, Zale and I walked hand in hand through the packhouse.

The yard was already filled with activity. Archers, wolves, and dragons were spread out and buzzing with anxious energy.

Cain and Aidian joined Zale and I in front of the crowd.

“How are you holding up?” I asked my brother, brushing my shoulder against his.

“We’re getting her back. Tonight.” He said sternly, looking between the three of us with an intense look.

A hush fell over the crowd and all eyes were on us. Cain, Zale, and I looked towards Aidian. It was his pack and his Luna who was missing so we conceded the command position to him.

“You all know what to do,” Aidian addressed the crowd, “Tonight we work as one to bring down these men and bring my Luna home.”

There was a mix of reactions from the crowd. Some cheered while others bowed their heads as a display of loyalty. When Aidian raised his hand, dismissing the legion that had assembled to rescue his Luna, they all dispersed and the mission began.

Aidian put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed,

“I want my Luna back, but that doesn’t mean I want to lose you. No matter what happens, Addie, you don’t give yourself over to them, do you hear me?” He said, leveling me with a furious look.

“Are you trying to use your Alpha command on me?” I snorted and Aidian rolled his eyes,

“Just listen to me for once.” He grumbled.

“I hear you, Aidian.” I said,

Aidian looked at Zale from over my shoulder, giving him a nod before leaving to lead his group of wolves to the meeting point. They would scout out the area beforehand and set up a perimeter so no one got through. When Marcy came into view, Aidian and his wolves would be some of the first to enter the meeting.

“Cain,” I called out to the Alpha of the Warrior pack, “A minute?” I asked him and he nodded.

“I’ll replace you in a minute.” I told Zale from over my shoulder.

Zale leaned down to kiss my cheek and whispered in my ear,

“I won’t let you do anything stupid.” He said, his voice intimidating.

I looked up to glare at him, but he was already gone. Shaking my head, I walked up to Cain.

“What’s up?” He asked.

“I need you to promise me something.”

Cain released a heavy sigh,

“I’m not going to like this.” He said,

“I can survive things that Marcy can’t.” I said and Cain just started shaking his head.

“Not only will your Alpha brother kill me, but your dragon mate will burn me to a crisp if I assist you on being a marder.” He argued.

“It’s a worse case scenario. We go through with the plan, first, but if it goes south and it looks like Marcy is going to be taken back, I’ll trade myself.” I whispered.

“And you want me to do what exactly?” He asked skeptically.

“Use the Warriors to keep Aidian, Zale, and anyone else who tries to stop me back.”

Cain’s eyes widened and he looked at me like I was crazy.

“Adira, seriously,” He laughed without humor, “Your boyfriend will level the entire forest if anyone tries to take you and there won’t be a damn thing I, or anyone else, can do about it. I’m sorry, but I’m not willing to lose my entire pack just so you can be the hero.”

I wanted to call him dramatic, but even I knew that was a lie. I sighed in frustration and grumbled incoherently under my breath.

“Listen, I don’t think it’ll come to that, anyway. Our plan is a good one.” Cain added.

“If he tries to take her back with him and I can’t give myself up, I will follow them.” I said,

“That I can help you with. If they get away, we’ll abandon the fight in the field and follow Marcy with you.” Cain agreed.

“Fine,” I muttered, knowing that it was the best deal I was going to make, “Be safe, Cain.”

Cain squeezed my shoulder and winked at me,

“You, too.” He said before heading off to meet his Warriors.

Cain and his wolves stalked into the woods. Their mission was to hunt down Quarter and his rogues before they reach the meeting space, and to keep an eye on them. They were to know the location of each of Quarter’s rogues in case they were planning an ambush.

Zale was speaking to the dragons. Of course, he wasn’t planning on leaving my side and neither was Balin, so Tirian would lead the dragons on their mission. They would echo the movements of Aidian’s wolves, guarding the other half of the perimeter. Zale finished up his speech and then handed over the command to Tirian.

“You okay?” Zale asked as he and Balin walked away from the group.

“I’m good.” I nodded.

Raven walked up to me then and I turned my attention to her.

“The Archers are ready to go.” She said,

“Good. You know what to do.” It was a short command, but it was all that Raven needed.

Raven nodded once, and then her and the rest of the Archers vanished into the woods. They would take to the trees, doing what they do best; being invisible threats.

“You ready?” I asked Zale and Balin who both nodded at me.

I would keep my end of the bargain to Quarter, appearing at the meeting spot alone. Zale and Balin would be the closest to me with Aidian and his elite group not too far off. We knew that it was likely Quarter and his rogues would sense the wolves and possibly even the dragons around us, but if Quarter was any kind of smart, he wouldn’t be surprised. The Archers and the Warrior pack would be our smoking gun, hiding in the shadows and waiting for Quarter to make his move.