Dark Alpha: A Fated Mates Novel

9: TO HOLD AND PROTECT

~SINCLAIR~
The magïck holding Vannie took her an inch closer to the portal. At this point, the violence coming off Sin was enough to startle even him, and he lost all control to the daemon. The daemon began to boulder through the spell with twice as much speed and force that he used, the aggressive energy making the wizard's eyes to widen in fear.

Sin saw the next moments play out perfectly in his mind's eye. The sorcerer's magïck would successfully compel Vannie into the portal, and it would close behind them just as he broke out of the bonds. Before he could follow them into it, the last traces of the portal would disappear.

The thought ripped out a growl that had every Lycan within a twenty-mile radius going on their knees. Seconds later, his men began pounding on the door, but it was protected with ancient hexes only him could disable. That was impossible now that he was bound by the magïck.

It was hopeless, but he kept pushing, mad at the bastard, madder at himself. "If she goes through that portal," he started, very slowly. " - even Hades will feel pity after I'm done with you." The promise was heavy, weighing heavily between them, but the bastard didn't stop chanting.

Just at the last moment when she was mere inches from the mouth of the portal, and he was living his worst nightmare, Vannie reached out and searched in front of her, like she was looking for the life source of the magïck. She seemed to find it, as she bent the air, and didn't look like she was being dragged anymore.

He wasn't surprised that she was able to use fae magïck. Now that she was out of the dungeons that suppressed her powers, it was only a matter of time.

She turned murderous eyes on the sorcerer, and awe wracked through Sin as she went to the floor and executed a smooth kick on his calves.

The man fell to the floor and Vannie followed, her fists landing blows on his face. "Don't. Ever. Touch. Me. Again." Each word was punctuated by a thick punch.

She was going to land the most fatal one-even Sin knew the man was in for it-when he suddenly disappeared, no trace of him or the portal in the room.

The spell released him, and he realized he'd stopped fighting against it for a while, wondering at the bloodlust in her eyes, a bloodlust that matched his perfectly.

She was no maiden-in-distress. This was the third time he'd seen her in action, and it was obvious this woman had been trained for lethal combat. He couldn't fight the pride in his throat at the thought. Didn't want to.

She was absolutely perfect. Fucking perfect.
And then came the shame. Shame that he hadn't protected her once again. The King of the Inlands, trapped by a spell. It sent a bolt of despair through him. How would he ever prove to this woman that he could deserve her?

He sent a message to Maeve, and the pounding on the door stopped, then shuffling movement ensued as the Keepers left.

His mate looked around, seemingly confused. He struggled against the urge to probe her mind, not to dig deep and find out what was putting those adorable wrinkles between her forehead. Then make it better, make her happy, till those indents never appeared on her face ever again.

She finally looked up. "I thought I was poisoned."

"It wasn't poison. Zara gave you a little draught that made you sleep. She said you were getting upset."

Her fists ground together. "That kid. Why would she do that? And why would she say you're my mate?"

He tried to force a smile, but his face muscles were not working, and he was sure he'd wrecked the reassurance he'd tried to portray, and fuck, she was going to reject their mating.

Instead of dwelling on it and letting his emotions get the better of him like he really wanted to do, he caught her gaze again, couldn't help the tremble as silver met obsidian. "Zara is two centuries older than I am." At this try, he was able to summon a wry smile.

Surprise colored her just as he expected, but she quickly recovered, desperate not to divert from the main issue. "You are not my mate, Sinclair."

Once again, he managed to isolate his emotions from getting tangled in the first part of the sentence, and focused on the second part instead. His body thrummed with awareness. Sinclair, who would have thought?

He wanted to hear her call him that till he took his last breath.

He'd hated the name. It reminded him that he wasn't in the world to be a normal Lycan. Sinclair, Fighter of Evil. How ironic. His parents had named him that before they found out about his destiny. That he was the evil to be fought.

But when she called him-Hades, he'd never thought the sound of his full name on another's lips would feel like this.
Maybe it was because he was hers. Maybe she would call him Lily and he'd roll over like the shameless horndog he was, soaking up the fact that she'd given him her attention.

He tried to control his physical reaction to her calling him, and got back on Earth to realize she was standing still. Too still, like she was waiting for something to happen.
She'd thought he'd kill her for using his full name. Gods, she really thought him a monster. Yes, he'd immediately killed some people unfortunate to call him that, but she had to know he wouldn't use those hands to hurt her. Never again.

And she has no fault in doing that, he thought, a pang of immense sadness mixed with a sudden surge of urgency in his chest. He'd make her see him. He'd make her forgive him and accept him, and burst his a*s trying to deserve her for the rest of eternity, because the opposite would devastate him.

He took a breath. "I'd do anything to hear you call me that again."

She froze, then once again quickly recovered, her anger sending him shades that made his daemon retreat far into his mind. "She lied, didn't she? Tell me Zara lied. This is another of your torture schemes? Take me back to the real world and slip out the carpet from under me?"

A hoarse sound he barely recognized as his forced its way out of his throat, her words hitting him like a punch to the guts. "I'd never-" I'd never do that to you. Only, he had. She had absolutely no reason to believe him, no matter what the hell he did. His selfishness and lack of foresight was the cause of this predicament.

"You're my mate. I recognized you on the morn of your twenty-second birthday." The age the Zhodians grew into maturity and were able to mate. "I hadn't seen you before because-" the gods were trying to play a sick game of revenge. "-of the prophecy."

She locked he gaze on him, then abruptly turned after few moments. "I should have gone with the sorcerer."