Vindicator

Chapter 38

Nudity was not something that most werewolves would balk at; however, Karma was not most werewolves. She didn't grow up with the normal nudity that accompanied werewolves shifting from human to wolf form on a regular basis. Even still, she normally wouldn't mind a naked individual in front of her if he had just shifted back from his wolf form.

And yet, the half-naked man lying beneath her was causing her to have the most unreasonable of reactions. Although control of her body was returned to her, she remained frozen in place. She was so uncomfortable and stunned that she just couldn't bring herself to move.

Similarly, although Chance had long since become accustomed to nudity, the she-wolf on top of him was causing him to become flustered. After regaining control, he, too, found himself incapable of moving.

He had never before considered himself to be attracted to males, so having found himself mated to a man was unexpected. That said, he did consider himself to be a loyal man, so was a bit ashamed of how having a beautiful, nearly-naked woman on top of him made his body react. His heart was beating wildly in his chest, his palms were sweaty, and he felt an ember of desire within him burning at Karma's soothing touch. Part of him was frozen because he just didn't know what to do, but another part of him was enjoying the warmth and feel of Karma's soft skin against his own.

A low growl from Xander stopped his mind from wandering too far. He snapped his attention back to the matter at hand, instead of what his hands were touching. He cleared his throat awkwardly before speaking.

"Um...I apologize for my...Mine and my wolf's...Uh, reaction" he clumsily managed to get out.

"Oh, um, it's okay" Karma replied quietly and awkwardly.

Neither wanted to make the first move to get up, unsure of what to do. Alessia let out a huffy sigh, annoyed with her human. "Do I need to take over again? We have shit to do, and we don't have all day" she griped.

Karma tensed at the reminder, and immediately sat up. She blushed, since she was now straddling the Prince's hips, and decided to keep going to escape the situation. As elegantly as a drunken rhino, Karma rolled off the Prince. Once she was on her feet again, she self-consciously crossed her arms over her stomach. "I should go talk to your mate" she mumbled.

Chance sat up once Karma was off of him. He nodded, then cleared his throat again. "I know that your wolf was the one who did...Uh...That" he said, motioning up and down at her to imply her lack of clothing. "But I appreciate it. I don't know how I would have managed that pain for so long" he admitted.

Karma just nodded, giving him a tight-lipped smile. She turned away from him to open a door, but heard him call out "Wait!"

Turning to face him with a raised brow, she saw he was giving her an apologetic smile while getting to his feet. "Do you need clothes?" He asked.

Karma felt more blood rushing to her face at such a blatant reminder of her bare skin. She could hear Alessia laughing at her embarrassment, and was growing irritated. "Uh...No, I'll go get some from my room. But...Uh, thanks" she muttered.

Before he could say anything more, she had slipped out of the room and into the Lupine realm. Alessia was sitting where she appeared, and the wolf gave her an unapologetic wolfy grin.

"Asshole" Karma muttered.

"You're happy we helped him, though" Alessia challenged.

"Yeah, but I prefer to have my clothes on when helping people" Karma grumbled. "Whatever, let's go see what my waste-of-a-mate brother is doing" she said with a sigh.

Karma quickly made her way back to the palace to change into new clothes. Before too long, she was back in the Lupine realm and opening another door to find her brother. Upon opening the door, though, a blinding light spilled across Kadma's face. Quickly jumping back, she let out a yelp of pain and covered her eyes. She tried squinting through her fingers at the unbelievably bright light pouring in from the room; however, it was just too extreme. It was almost as if she was staring directly into the sun.

Quickly closing the door, Karma let out an annoyed growl. "What the hell is he playing at?" She yelled in frustration.

"He must have realized that we cannot spy on someone whom we cannot see" Alessia said. "Bright light seems like an unusual means of blinding us, though; it would blind everyone else in the room, too."

Karma considered what Alessia was saying and nodded in agreement. "It is unusual. Even if he was just going to have sex, it seems a bit extreme to go to such lengths to hide from us" she said with a frown.

"Perhaps don't look, and just listen? Maybe we'll get some clues" the wolf suggested.

Karma agreed, and the two leaned in close as Karma opened a tiny window. It allowed them to hear, but didn't let in as much of the blinding light. The two she-wolves strained their ears, and they heard the sound of someone breathing. The breaths were even and consistent, as if from someone sleeping.

Just as Karma was about to start yelling and cursing at her brother, whom she assumed was the one she was hearing, the creaking sound of an old wooden door opening was heard. She kept her temper in check a bit longer to hear what was happening. The slap of bare feet against tile floor was extremely loud in contrast to the silence of the rest of the room. The sound was easy to follow, and moved towards the breathing individual. "Wake up, wake up, sleepy head" a female's voice sang out.

Theo's voice could be heard groaning at the sound that woke him. He didn't say anything, though, which annoyed his sister. She wanted clues, and the less talking there was, the fewer clues there were. Despite her ire, she continued stewing in silence so they could continue to listen.

"We've been texting your father, but he isn't answering. Pity for you...We'll keep doing this my way, but if he doesn't answer soon...Well, let's just say I wont be the one having sex with you if it comes to that" the stranger said with a laugh.

Karma frowned, starting to get a bad feeling about the situation. They were texting Russell for something, and it was a pity for Theo that he wasn't answering? Why would that matter?

Karma heard Theo's response to the woman, but it wasn't what she would have expected. No words left his lips, and instead only muffled cries of anger and frustration could be heard. The reason for this was cleared up, though, when the woman spoke again.

"Sorry, sweetie. I can't handle when you macho idiots go screaming and yelling about shit. The ball-gag is staying in, unless I decide to use your mouth for anything fun" she said with another laugh. "Speaking of fun, should we give that mate of yours another present?" She asked, still giggling. The sound of bed springs pressing down could be heard, presumably from the woman climbing into bed with Theo.

Karma shut the window and turned to Alessia, her face once red with rage was now pale from shock. "Is...Is she doing what I think she's doing to him?" She demanded.

"I believe so..." Alessia said solemnly. "We would be going in literally blind if we try to save him directly, though" she added.

"So we let that bitch have her way with him again?! We can just barge in there and take him, we're immortal!" Karma shouted.

"But he is not" Alessia stated. "They may kill him if they can't keep him. We can't be sure we would find him in time to stop that. We can't see anything to even understand what kind of arrangement they have, it is very clearly a trap" she insisted.

"Then what do we do?" Karma demanded, stomping her foot with her words like an enraged child. She was feeling guilty for assuming Theo had been willingly sleeping with someone, when it turned out he was being taken advantage of. It gave her a sense of urgency that was leading to questionable rationale.

"We consider our options" Alessia said calmly, trying to instil calm into her human through their bond.

"And they are?" Karma asked impatiently, although Alessia's efforts were bringing her down a little.

"We seek help from the Royals" Alessia started.

"No point" Karma retorted, still tapping her foot.

"We ask mom" Alessia added.

"No point in worrying her for nothing" Karma answered, shaking her head.

"Then we go find Russell" Alessia said with finality.

"Then we go find Russell" Karma repeated with a growl.