Chapter 62

Chapter 62. Give Me Strength “I hope you are not meaning to tell me that you are with a child,” Castiel sighed, as if he was already bored and Roxanne was hesitating to start talking. However, he stopped the men who wanted to take her back, and Roxy knew that this was her chance.

“I am already aware. You don’t seriously think that you are the only spy I sent there,” the fox king added.

“This may be your child,” she still said out loud in the hope that it could change anything in his eyes. But they still remained the same stormy grey colour she fell in love with. And not a muscle on his face flinched.

“Highly unlikely,” he said, and her face fell. “But it’s good that you are pregnant.”

His last words suddenly gave her hope and she looked at him again through her lashes. “You think so?” Roxy forced a little smile and saw him smirk.

“Of course,” he let out a laugh, “If it’s a wolf, then we can use him in a when it’s born to claim Thorn’s pack and territory if we can’t do that now. But if we are particularly lucky, it will be a hybrid like you are. And this opens a window of possibilities for us.

Especially if the baby inherits your siren genes. Those are the most useful for us, don’t you think? Every fox can imitate a scent given to them, but only a siren can seduce a person in a way that they never even suspect a thing. Your work with Brayden Thorn was not bad in the first phase. He never even doubted that you were his mate.”

She swallowed. The future that he pictured for her child wasn’t the one she wanted. But his cold gaze made her forget about all that quickly. Right now, her own survival was more important. Castiel wasn’t the most forgiving leader. And she made a big mistake today.

“So?” he raised his brow to demonstrate to her that he was losing his patience.

“I have access to all the money of the Silver River pack,” Roxy reported, “Moreover, Brayden made sure that his ex didn’t even get a penny for her pack. She would be done very fast.”

“Is that so?” Castiel chuckled, “I think you are underestimating Riannon Michaels again. But never mind. Let’s go.”

He motioned for her to follow him into his office, and she tried to match his pace. There, he opened the laptop on his desk, and she knew at once that he didn’t want her to waste any more of his precious time.

With shaky fingers, Roxanne logged in to Brayden’s internet banking account and stepped away.

“Is that it?” Castiel took the laptop back and circled the table to sit in his chair. He “That’s all there was after their divorce,” she told him, and he looked at her curiously, but a few seconds later he burst out laughing. He laughed and he laughed, wiping his tears with his hands. All the while she stood in front of him, trembling. She never saw him like that. And it was scary.

“After the divorce?” he repeated as he ran his hand over his hair, “You must be kidding me!”

She instantly knew what he was thinking. And she wasn’t so sure anymore about anything.

“I bet she took care of it prior to the Summit,” Castiel said nonchalantly as he was typing something on his computer.

“You give her too much credit,” the words slipped off her tongue before she could stop herself.

“I see her for what she is,” the fox king retorted, “That amount is hardly enough to run a pack of their size. There is no way their budget was this bad...”

Roxy gritted her teeth. This could only mean one thing potentially. That Riannon already took care of that. And that she and her pack weren’t in trouble at all.

“Anyway,” Castiel closed his laptop, “that was something. But it doesn’t change much for you. You disappointed me, Roxanne.

Your reckless behaviour cost me my plan. And for what? Did hormones make you stupid all of a sudden?”

“apologise, my king,” She dropped to her knees. But this time she didn’t cry. Castiel wasn’t Brayden. He would never buy that.

And letting out her siren pheromones on him could be deadly, since he wasn’t a fool and would know what was happening. She tried that with him once and it almost cost her her life. So, she was aware that her best chance was to offer him her loyalty and submission.

He could still use her and this was her best bet.

The fox king stood up and walked towards her, lifting her chin in his warm hand. She leaned into his palm with her cheek, closing her eyes just for a second and then looking back at him.

“Why did you really do it?” he asked, and she knew better than she couldn’t tell him the truth about how Riannon made her feel jealous. So, she went for a lie that sounded appropriate given the situation.

wanted to bring her to you. The trap was perfect. But it went to hell when the lycans appeared.

“Is that so?” he traced her lip with his thumb, and she was tempted to suck it in and try to seduce him. But it was still too risky, considering his mood.

“Of course,” she nodded and in just a second he was already grabbing her neck and squeezing it so tight that she had no air to breathe.

“Then why did you forget to mention such a small detail that her wolf is back and that it’s f***ing glowing!” he snarled at her and a single tear trickled down her chin.

She didn’t tell him that, because as long as Riannon had no wolf, Castiel wouldn’t consider her for anything serious. She didn’t tell him that because she knew that wolf was a special one. And Castiel would want to have her now. Everyone would want her if they knew.

But she couldn’t say that.

“I thought you knew,” she let out a weak squeak and he let go of her, throwing her to the ground.

“And as you can see, I do know,” he chuckled. He seemed to be in a good mood just from talking about the Luna and Roxanne hated it.

“I am so sorry,” she muttered, looking at the floor and hearing him sigh.

“You are lucky that you still have some use for me,” he told her and she did her best o hold back her tears, “You are still going to help me to get what I want...”

***

Maya was curling up in her chair, hiding her head somewhere in her knees. She couldn’t bring herself to go down and look at her brother’s body. She couldn’t believe that he was simply lying there, no life left in him.

“You need to eat something,” Reid kneeled before her and she refused to look at him. Everything was wrong. His every touch was bringing tingles to her body, tingles that were tempting her to close her eyes and give in to her desires.

But how could she be happy now when her baby brother was dead? Dean was the only real family she had left and she didn’t protect him. Riannon warned her about Roxy, but she still didn’t pay everything enough attention. And she even fell for a trap, which left Dean alone in the clutches of the evil omega. . It was all her fault...

hard, yet he stayed by her side, trying to help her the best he could. He wasn’t giving up on her and she did not feel like she deserved it.

“You need to eat for your strength,” Reid told her and brushed his hand over her leg softly.

“You don’t understand,” she said quietly, hiding her puffy face from him.

“Maybe I don’t,” he sighed, trying to find her eyes to look at, “But I can imagine. Just like you only had Dean, my only family that is left is my nephew Kyle. The one that your friend Riannon saved.”

She sniffed, trying to control her tears. Although that didn’t seem possible anymore.

“That day, I wasn’t there,” he continued, making soothing circles over her bare skin with his thumbs, “When I heard about the attack, I was blaming myself for leaving him in that school. For not being there when I had to be. But you know what Riannon told me back then?”

Maya looked up at him so that she could see his face.

“What?” she asked.

“She said that we cannot blame ourselves for what others did. It wasn’t my fault that the rogues decided to attack the school that day,” Reid stretched his hand to caress her cheek and was pleased when she did not flinch away from him, “And, Maya, it wasn’t your fault that this fox tricked and killed your brother. You cannot hold yourself responsible for that.”

“She warned me about her,” the girl muttered, “But I...”

“You couldn’t know what she would do and when,” her mate stopped her, “You did your best. And I am sure that if your brother was here now, he would tell you the same.”

“I don’t know what to do next,” she confessed weakly and bent towards him. Reid did not let that opportunity slide and caught her in his arms, pressing her tight against his body and lifting her up.

“Of course, you know what to do next,” her mate assured her, “You are a Beta. And you are strong.”

She locked her eyes with him for the first time and the determination in him made her believe in what he was saying. He was right.

“First, you will get your strength back,” he murmured as he moved her to the bed, “And then you will help your Alpha to avenge your brother and stop that b*tch once and for all. So that no one suffers the same destiny as him from her filthy hands.”

and she couldn’t afford to be a mess now. She couldn’t afford to fall apart and she sure as hell couldn’t let Roxanne keep hurting the people that she loved.

“I’ll bring you something to eat.” Reid smiled at her, caressing her cheek and neck, “You need your strength.”

He stood up and was about to leave when she caught his arm. He turned to look at her, doubt evident in his eyes. But she pulled him closer and he obeyed her at once.

“Then give me strength, Reid,” she stood up before him and tore the fingers off the shirt that she was wearing, not bothering unbuttoning it properly, “The way only a mate can.”

“Are you sure?” he swallowed the lump that formed in his throat at the sight of her. All they shared before that was a passionate kiss. And now she was offering herself to him. “I don’t want to use your moment of weakness to my advantage. You are vulnerable now...”

“And you are my mate,” she took a step closer, placing her palm on his chest right where the heart was. “If anyone can make me strong now if anyone can heal me... if anyone can make me forget... It would be you, Reid. Give me the strength. Be with me.”

“You don’t need to ask me twice, kitten,” he picked her up gently and placed her back to the bed, climbing on top of her, “I was born to cherish you... And this is what I’ll be doing my whole life.”

***

Riannon was lying in Gideon’s arms, exhausted from what seemed to be a never-ending day. They did not talk but the way he pressed her against his body and was stroking her hair and arms was telling her more than any words could.

She felt Onyx shift inside of her every time his fingers were touching her skin. It was the true mate bond, and it was so new for her. Despite being madly in love with him, only now she realised that she couldn’t experience all the intensity of their connection before her wolf was back.

Yet before she could explore that more, Ria knew she had to do one thing.

“Onyx,” she called for her wolf mentally and this time she responded at once, “I want you to tell me who killed me and everything else that the Moon Goddess told you.”

NOTE: Hi, sorry for the late update today. I think I mentioned already that I am back to my studies after covid and because of that updates will probably be at random times now. But will try to keep them daily until the end (hopefully this month). Would you help me to name this chapter as well?