Hearts of Warriors Ch. 09

For the first time she could remember her wolf was happy. Usually her other half paced restlessly within her, challenging her for dominance, demanding more time to be allowed free, but this morning her wolf was sated, content to curl up in a ball and sleep. It was so surprising, Lily couldn't help laughing softly, disturbing her mate who shifted restlessly against her his arm tightening around her body.

Lips caressed her shoulder gently as Mac rubbed against her back sleepily. "What's so funny, woman?" he grumbled. "Shouldn't you be passed out with exhaustion after last night?"

Lily laughed louder, rubbing her bottom against his morning erection and receiving a muttered curse for her troubles. "I'm a Vârcolac," she answered smugly. "We obviously have more stamina than mere vampires."

She shrieked when Mac rolled onto his back, dragging her across his body until she lay on top of him. His hand clamped around the nape of her neck holding her securely as his eyes glittered like a midnight pool of water.

"You want to talk stamina?" he asked huskily his expression full of amusement laced with desire. "I wasn't the one pleading so prettily to stop two hours ago. Or was that begging, sugar? Do you want me to repeat your words verbatim?"

"You probably could too," she laughed, her face burning with heat at all the things Mac had done to her body during the night and all the things she'd done to his. She had begged him to stop, unable to take any more sensual overload.

She could see why he had been picked to head the Praetorians. When given a task, Mac went at it with a ruthless determination to succeed. Nothing got in his way and last night, his mission had been to take his mate over and over again until she was exhausted. He'd passed with flying colours and it had been glorious.

Lily had never felt more loved, more desired, so utterly cherished. It left her feeling awestruck. Mac had taken her with hot, lustful passion and also with a tenderness which had threatened to bring tears to her eyes it was so beautiful. Then he'd allowed her to explore his body at her own pace, lying back as she learned each spot which brought him pleasure.

Well, that part had lasted all of five minutes before his natural dominance had taken over and he'd flipped her onto her back and taken all control out of her hands. She hadn't had the opportunity to indulge all of her curiosity of his sexy body.

Sighing softly, Lily laid her head on his shoulder and breathed in the scent of her mate. It was still a shock to realise that Mac belonged to her completely now. For some reason, she'd thought they would wait to become fully mated at least until after they'd spoken to her father, but Mac had been pretty adamant about how the night was going to progress.

She could still feel his fangs sliding through her skin, the numerous little bites he'd given her as they'd made love. All Weres learned from an early age that vampire venom was toxic to them. One bite and they were dead. The only way for a Were and vampire to mate was for the vampire to heal the Were from a fatal wound...at a DNA level.

They all knew the stories of how their parents had mated with their vampires. Andrei had healed Loretta when he'd found her dying in the forest. The side-effects of that healing were only discovered by accident. Nors had healed Ashleigh when his own people had tried to kill her, allowing them to mate. Even Freya's healing of Dayton had been relatively easy, saving his life when he'd become trapped in a pit, his body impaled on wicked spikes.

It was Cedar and Alexei's mating which always brought chills to Lily. Her aunt had had no fatal injury caused by someone or something else. The only way for them to mate was for Alexei to wound her to the point of death. She couldn't even begin to imagine which of them had been the bravest, Cedar for being strong enough to demand her right to be mated to him or Alexei for going against everything he believed in to give his mate what she needed so badly.

Thankfully, the Vârcolac were immune to all vampire venom. They were half vampire; therefore, the venom couldn't hurt them, as it was part of their DNA. It wasn't common knowledge among the pack, only the hybrids knew and trusted members of the pack hierarchy...their adopted family. Naturally, the Praetorians knew, which was why Mac had had no qualms about claiming his mate the night before.

"You didn't answer my question," Mac yawned turning his head to see it was just past six thirty in the morning. They'd barely gotten any sleep and he fancied another couple of hours before they had to get up.

"You wore my wolf out," Lily giggled, pressing her lips against the hard wall of his chest. "She's quiet for the first time ever. It feels wonderful."

"You feel wonderful," he groaned, fighting the urge to rub against her. He shifted their position again, spooning against her back and settling the sheet around them. "But I need sleep. Your wolf wore me out too. Go back to sleep, sugar." He pressed his lips against her shoulder and sighed in contentment.

Lily didn't see the point in arguing with him. It felt so good lying in his arms she closed her eyes and allowed sleep to claim her again, safe in her mate's embrace.

When she woke a few hours later, she was in bed alone, the sound of the shower running a soothing wash across her senses. The shower shut off just as she registered it was on and a few minutes later Mac came into the bedroom towelling his hair dry.

He was naked, apart from a towel wrapped around his waist, his skin damp and oh so tempting. She must have moved or made a sound because he turned to look at her, a sensual smile curling over his lips.

"You shouldn't look at me like that, sugar. We've got to go visit your parents today," he laughed kneeling on the side of the bed to drop a kiss on her mouth. It was supposed to be a quick kiss but she tasted so good and it felt like forever since he'd last kissed her, so he dived in and thoroughly explored her mouth with much enthusiasm.

He was instantly hard for her, his blood heating so quickly it was almost like a fever. He growled and deepened the kiss, half raising her from the bed until her silky hair draped over his arms and cascaded down to the pillows.

His woman was intoxicating, so fucking sexy he was losing himself completely in her sensuality. He plundered her mouth, drank in her sweet moans and then reluctantly forced himself to lower her back to the bed.

"You need to shower, Lily," he groaned pulling away and heading to the closet to dig out some clothes. It was an effort to walk away from her but Karn had stopped by when she was sleeping. They needed to talk before they headed over to the Armand-Hanlon Pack.

"You're not serious?" Lily grumbled letting out a frustrated sigh. "You can't kiss me like that and then tell me to go and shower as if nothing happened."

He grinned over his shoulder, dropping his towel to pull on a pair of light blue jeans. He heard a frustrated growl as he covered his body and it filled him with satisfaction.

"I can and I just did," he laughed, buttoning closed his jeans and reaching for a black silk shirt. If he was officially meeting his in-laws today he'd better dress the part.

"We don't have to go home today, Mac. We could go tomorrow." Lily kicked off the sheet rolling to her side to watch him with a sultry smile on her face.

God, how he wanted to join her in the bed, but she wasn't aware of what had transpired the night before and he had a feeling she wasn't going to be very pleased with him when she found out. He should have told her last night about the meeting but he'd had other more important things on his mind.

Mac buttoned his shirt and tucked the ends into his jeans, cinching a belt at his waist. His expression was serious as he looked back at Lily, raking a hand through his tangled wet hair.

"Kallum told your parents last night we'd be over today," he admitted watching her reaction intently. "Before you ask, the pack was informed last night of your whereabouts. Annie and Caleb told them. Kallum and Karn went to represent the Praetorians."

The sensual expression died from her face and for a moment she just looked at him blankly and then she sat up and hunted the floor for her underwear. She couldn't find them fast enough so she grabbed her cargo pants and tank top and pulled them on jerkily.

Once dressed she put her hands on her hips and tilted her head back to glare up at him. "So let me get this straight...while you were fucking me last night a secret meeting about me and my future was taking place. One you knew about but neglected to inform me of?"

Mac counted to ten slowly because he could see the hurt in her eyes which she was trying hard to suppress. He blew out a long breath and raked his hand through his hair again.

"While we were making love last night a meeting did take place relating to the Praetorians and the Vârcolac, one I judged Karn was capable of handling so I let him," he correctly her calmly. "If I'd judged it imperative for us to be there then we would have attended after we'd mated."

He curved a finger under her chin, his jaw tight as he regarded her intently. "Don't ever denigrate what we share together, Lily. I don't care how angry you are with me, don't you ever lower it down to fucking. There's a world of difference between fucking and making love."

Lily's nostrils flared as she gritted her teeth, struggling to fight the fury and fear overwhelming her. She couldn't believe everything had suddenly gone from being perfect to being the biggest pile of shit she could imagine, that Mac had kept something so important from her.

"You want to argue semantics, Mac? You think to distract me on one point so I'll forget all the rest? My father found out where I was last night and he could have lost it completely. I told you I had to be there when he found out. You knew that and you kept quiet."

"Andrei didn't lose it so there isn't an issue," he bit back, reacting to her temper when he knew he shouldn't.

Lily screamed in frustration throwing her hands up in the air. "That's not the point! I wanted to be there, Mac. I needed to be there and you took that decision out of my hands so you could have sex." She ignored the dangerous expression which crossed his face incensed by his high-handedness.

"I can't believe I ran away from my father ruling my life right into your world so you could do the exact same thing. Do I have masochist stamped all over me? Is there some sign that says "Lily's incapable – make her decisions for her?" You had no right to decide for me, Mackenzie, especially after I told you what I wanted."

Mac felt a stab of guilt deep down and frowned as he stared into Lily's furious face. "It wasn't like that," he defended himself. "We needed time together, Lily. We needed to be strong for when we confronted Andrei. The timing of the meeting was inconvenient I grant you but there was no deliberate attempt to keep you away. And Karn knew to call if there was a problem."

She glared at him a moment longer and then she let out a weary sigh. "It's that simple for you, isn't it? Everything worked out okay; you didn't mean anything by your actions. It all just sort of worked out so what's the problem?"

She felt tears starting to well up and swallowed them down ruthlessly. "The problem is you can't see what you've done wrong, Mac. When you figure it out let me know. Until then I think I'll shower in my own room. You can let me know when it's time to leave for the pack."

"Lily, for goodness sake put things in perspective." Mac reached for her, but she stepped around him, hurt dancing in her eyes as well as moisture, which looked suspiciously like tears. He felt as if he'd been punched in the gut, his hand dropping away to fall at his side.

"I am putting them in perspective, Mac. The problem is it's not your perspective so therefore you ignore it. I can put up with a lot of things from a dominant male but I will not have my free will taken from me, not by my father and not by my mate."

He let her go when every instinct screamed at him to hold her close until she stopped hurting. He'd expected anger, was even prepared for it, but he wasn't prepared for the hurt in her eyes nor the look of betrayal crossing her face.

He hadn't meant to hurt her. Hadn't deliberately tried to keep her in the dark, but Lily had spent so long having others direct the course of her life, that every little thing was now a fight for survival for her.

Mac rubbed a hand wearily over his face and then continued getting ready. He'd give Lily time to calm down, to feel less hurt. They could talk when her emotions were less raw. When his were too.

He was barely into the whole mating thing and already he was failing miserably at it. He would have to do better, because hurting Lily was the last thing he ever wanted to do.

Lily showered in her room nursing her hurt for all of ten minutes before she let the sadness wash away under the soothing hot water. Mac had messed up but he'd do better the next time, once he understood the difference between protecting his mate and trying to take over her life.

And she wasn't the type to wallow in self pity for too long. She was still annoyed with him but she didn't feel hurt any more which was the important thing.

Drying herself she surveyed the clothes she had in her closet. She hadn't packed any of her usual clothes so it looked like she had her 'slut' outfit or cargo pants and tank top. Or whatever the hell she wanted from her closet at home. All she had to do was concentrate and she'd be wearing it.

She'd been so used to not magicking up anything which was inexplicable in her role as Andrea Ruminskey that she'd quickly gotten out of the habit of doing it. It was nice being able to indulge that side of herself again.

Closing her eyes she mentally flicked through her wardrobe and finally settled on her favourite summer dress which tucked in at the waist and buttoned all the way down into a flowing skirt just above her knees. It had thin straps and the upper swell of her breasts peaked over the top when she wore her satin strapless bra with it. Matching panties and strappy sandals completed the outfit along with a button down sweater just in case it became a little cooler later on.

Opening her eyes she surveyed herself in the mirror and giggled. Every single thing she had on was red. She was going home in a true scarlet woman outfit. Her father's face would be priceless.

Peeling off the sweater and throwing it on the bed she smoothed her hands over her waist wondering what Mac would think when he saw her in her normal clothes. So far he'd seen the soldier hiding some sexy lingerie.

Would he like the real Lily, the ultra feminine part of her who loved flowing skirts, and silky material, who dreamed of old fashioned romance? She guessed she was going to find out sometime soon.

Brushing her hair she swept up the sides in intricate braids fastening them with red ties at the top of her head and leaving the rest to flow freely down her back. A light touch of make-up and she was ready to go.

She scowled for a moment in the mirror remembering her fight with her mate. "Hope your tongue hangs out," she whispered childishly and then she grinned. She did hope his mouth watered all day long when there was nothing he could do about it. It would make for so much fun later when they were alone.

Brandon's jaw dropped open as he came out of the kitchen just as she got to the bottom of the stairs. He gaped for a full minute before he burst out laughing. "I was going to ask if I could come too but Mac might kick my ass."

"Probably," she laughed back gratified at the male appreciation and the way he knew she was off limits...that she belonged to Mac. It sent a shiver of delight through her.

"We got a new recruit last night," Brandon continued heading into the sitting room where Liam was lounging comfortably on one of the oversized chairs, his face lighting up when she entered the room.

"Lily!"

She didn't know what was more surprising, seeing Liam at the compound or the way he jumped up and threw his arms around her squeezing so tightly for a moment she couldn't breathe. Liam never touched anyone voluntarily. Their emotions leaked all over him and caused him pain. But he was the one hugging her and she couldn't resist wrapping her arms around him and squeezing back.

It was hard not to love Liam. She didn't think she knew anyone who'd ever said a bad word about the gentle giant who wept silent tears for everyone else's pain and suffering.

"Liam what are you doing here? And where's Elina?" Lily looked around for his cousin, frowning slightly when she couldn't see the other woman. Elina never left his side if she could avoid it.

Liam pulled a face biting at his bottom lip as he stepped back. "Karn wouldn't let her come. They had a fight and she punched him clear across the room. I could feel the violence, Lily. She didn't hold back at all so it must have really hurt."

Brandon laughed as he threw himself down onto one of the sofas and opened his bottle of cold blood. "Now I would have paid to be a fly on the wall to see that."

"But why would she do that?" Lily managed to choke out shocked at what she was hearing.

"Because she didn't like hearing the truth," Karn answered as he walked into the room. "While her efforts have been commendable they've been in error. Possibly I could have gotten that point across a little nicer than I did but I wanted to go home and didn't have to piss about any longer."

Lily spun around to glare at him, disapproval on her face. "Karn! I can't believe you were nasty to Elina. She's my friend." She was truly distressed to hear of the altercation between them. While she was used to his grouchy ways, he must have shocked the life out of Elina.

"Hey! I'm your friend and you don't mind when he tosses me around by the throat," Brandon interjected in a peevish tone.

"You deserve all you get," she laughed, before her expression turned pensive again and she gave Karn another disapproving look.

He grinned back at her unrepentantly. "Scowling doesn't work on me and you know it. Anyway, I probably gave little Miss Icicle the most excitement she's had in years. She's probably dreaming of me right at this very moment." He appeared very satisfied at that thought.

"She probably working out how many different ways she can take you apart piece by piece," Lily retorted. "She is Freya's daughter."

Karn's grin broadened. "Guess I'll have to pray enough of her daddy's genes have mixed her up so I live to breathe another day."

His lack of concern was evident and she shook her head in exasperation and turned back to Liam who was watching the exchange with a smile on his face.

"You're so different here, Lily," he said in an awed tone. "It's like you're truly alive. I can feel your happiness. It's so radiant, so beautiful it makes me want to start smiling and never stop."

Lily's eyes filled with tears at the look of wonder on his face. It had been so long since he'd opened himself up to experience other people's emotions willingly. Usually he was fighting to hide from them.

"It isn't too much for you?" she whispered suddenly afraid she'd been too free with her emotions in his company. It was instinctive when in the pack to shield around him but they weren't in the pack now and she hadn't thought to.

"It's amazing, Lily. All of the Praetorians are so mentally disciplined I can't feel anything from them. We're so far away from everyone. There's only you and Kal, Brandon and another male I've not met yet who I can sense. Even Karn shields instinctively so I'm picking up very little and what I am picking up, I can easily block. For the first time in so long I can even open myself to others without fear of being overloaded."