Fated Ties: A Werewolf Paranormal Romance Novel (The Twisted Destiny Saga Book 3) (4 page)

Oriana smiled cruelly. “Oh, but she is.”

“Why are you telling me this now, after all this time?”

“
Because
I believe she may have finally figured out what the two of us realized so long ago.”

“That Nathanial is her true mate,” Vazra said with disbelief, still shaking his head.

“I had to wait until the two of them
connected
. I have reason to believe that has now occurred. She was in the Dark Realm with him and she was far too at ease in his company. For centuries, she was indifferent at best around him and often standoffish. And you saw for yourself how she defended him at the Royal Court meeting tonight.”

“You waited until he became attached to her, possibly felt love for her, so you could rip her away from him and do what he’d done to you with Cornelius,” Vazra said, realizing her true intentions.

“Exactly.”

“I need to be certain that they have
connected
. I cannot accuse her of betrayal and high treason without proof. She is such a high-ranking member of my court.”

“There are ways for you to be certain.”

Vazra could see by the look in her eyes that she already had a plan. “What are you suggesting?”

Oriana smiled maliciously. “A most pleasing plan.”

CHAPTER 4

Nathanial watched from the castle turrets as Ryan sat on the concrete floor, trying to coax his son to shift back into human form down in the courtyard a good two hundred feet below. He had to stay back at such a great distance to ensure that Ryan didn’t sense his presence. He didn’t want to disturb him and his son. But he needed to keep an eye on the Wolf King. After his mother’s unprecedented visit, he was concerned that his sentiment for her would cause him to negate on their already fragile alliance. Ryan had no idea what kind of a woman his mother really was. She had a talent for manipulating everyone she came into contact with. She actually took pleasure in it.
Power-hungry whore.

When will that woman ever cease ruining my life? Her mere presence for just a few minutes caused so much damage, jeopardizing the alliance between Ryan and myself. Forcing my sweet angel to return to the White Realm while she is pregnant with my child. The agony of being away from her is enough on its own, but knowing that she and our child could be in danger is almost too much to bear. Just forcing myself to stay here in the Dark Realm and not to go after her has been a task in itself. If anyone dares to lay a hand on her, I will rip their hearts out slowly and make them watch as I crush their life force before their very eyes in the slowest and most excruciatingly painful way imaginable. There will be no mercy. I will unleash the full force of the monster within.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Ryan’s gravelly voice down below.

“Orion. Shift back for Daddy. You’re safe with me. Shift back now.”

Orion? That was the wolf pup’s name? It hadn’t been announced. Ryan had been keeping it a secret, holding off on officially announcing the birth of his son.

Nathanial watched as
Orion
bounded onto Ryan’s lap. Ryan laughed at witnessing his flurry of excitement.

“Aside from your mother, you’re the first to disobey me. Obviously her trait. I was worried about you inheriting that from her. We’ll work on that, Son.”

Nathanial smiled to himself. He watched as Ryan tried repeatedly to convince his son to shift back.

“All right. Let’s try this then.”

A series of low, calming growls came from Ryan. A tiny, high-pitched growl came in response from his son. And then he went wild, bounding all over Ryan, nuzzling him, slapping his paws against his legs and then licking him all over.

Being the King of the Dark Realm, Nathanial had the ability to understand all forms of communication between Dark Realm creatures, so he had no problem understanding what was being communicated between Ryan and his son.

He watched, stunned, as Ryan suddenly stood up and started shedding his clothes.

“
Fine. We’ll do it your way, for now. But, rest assured, when you’re older, this kind of disobedience won’t be tolerated.”

And in the blink of an eye, Ryan shifted right there in the courtyard. Nathanial stifled a laugh as he watched Ryan’s son jump all over him, rubbing himself in his father’s thick mane of white fur. After a while, Ryan scooped him up with his paw—a paw that was more than four times the size of the little wolf-pup. He pulled him close and laid his paw lightly on his back. It took mere moments before the wolf-pup let out a contented yawn and then fell asleep against Ryan’s silky, white fur.

Nathanial watched quietly for a long while. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed before Ryan shifted back to human form and pulled his clothes back on. He tiptoed around his son as he dressed. But as soon as he had shrugged his leather jacket back on, the wolf-pup let out a disgruntled growl, because he was no longer nestled comfortably in the crook of his father’s arm. Ryan scooped him up with one hand.

“
I was going to carry you to bed. So much for that idea. Daddy can’t stay in wolf form for too long here. The air is making me a little sick, so I can’t hold it for long.”

And that was when Nathanial left his hiding place and, in a flash of vampire speed, appeared just a few feet in front of Ryan and his son.

“The Dark Realm is making you sick?”

“You heard that?” Ryan asked, taken aback as he glanced around at his surroundings. “Where were you? I didn’t sense you.”

“It doesn’t matter. If you’re sick, I can give you a potion to help. You just had to tell me.”

Ryan looked at him, clearly uncomfortable with what he was about to say. “When you and I are near one another, I don’t feel it as much.”

“I am Vampire King of the Dark Realm and you are the rightful Wolf King of the Dark Realm. We are always stronger together. It has been that way for centuries, Ryan.”

“But how? Without me or my father around all these years…how are you not…weak?”

Nathanial smiled. “I compensated for such a loss by
dabbling
in magic.”

Ryan nodded his understanding. “Marella thought it could be exacerbated by me being away from Cora. It’s the first time we’ve been so far apart, for this long, since we bonded.”

“What? Marella said that?”

“Yeah. Why? What’s wrong?”

“It works both ways?” he asked.

“Cora’s fine. I’ve communicated with her several times.”

“She is a special case. Her own power is so great that it will sustain her.”

“Then who are you—oh—you’re worried about Marella?”

“Yes,” Nathanial all but growled.
How could she have neglected to tell me about this? Well, I know why.
She was well aware that he would never have let her leave if he’d known that there was a possibility that being away from him would make her ill.
Marella!
How could she put herself and their child in jeopardy like that? He didn’t give a damn if
he
fell sick. It was her he cared about.

And that was when it hit him: that was how much she feared Vazra’s wrath. She’d believed that the possibility of Vazra finding out about the two of them, if she hadn’t gone back, and his accompanying wrath, was far more of a threat to her and their child than a little sickness.
I can protect you, angel. I can protect you from anyone!

Ryan’s expression clouded with disapproval. “She is my mother’s sister, Nathanial. Whatever you’re doing with her, you need to stop.”

“It is not what you think.”

“So, you’re not fucking her then?”

“It is more than
fucking
, as you so eloquently put it. Much more, Ryan.”

Ryan got his meaning immediately. He failed to hide his shock. “You’re her mate,” he gasped.

“Yes.”

“This is too fucking dangerous.”

“I don’t deny it, Ryan.”

“Because of Vazra.”

Nathanial caught a flicker of something in Ryan’s eyes as he’d uttered Vazra’s name. “You don’t trust him either?”

“I’m not an idiot. It’s plain as fucking day. He’s a world-class manipulator. But that’s only a threat if his agenda doesn’t mesh with ours. He wanted me to form an alliance with you. At the time, I wasn’t exactly on board.”

“Oh, I was well aware of how you felt about me. And now?”

“And
now,
I want to know why the fuck he wanted me to ally myself with you and take my seat beside you as King of the Dark Realm.”

Nathanial’s brow furrowed. Several moments passed before he finally realized Vazra’s intention. “He plans to kill me.”

“What?”

“All his talk of uniting the realms. Why would he need
you
for that? I am already here. And let’s not kid ourselves, he isn’t concerned with the wolf uprising here, so bringing you back here for that was not his real goal. It is what he knew
you
needed to hear—your only motivation to ally yourself with me, a man you had so much hatred for. No, he must plan to kill me. As his daughter’s husband, he thinks you easier to manipulate and control…through her. With me gone, he believes he would face no resistance in doing whatever he wished with the Dark Realm…
even
destroying it.”

“I’m not that weak-minded,” Ryan protested. “I wouldn’t let him take our realm.”

“
Our
realm?” Nathanial asked, surprised at Ryan’s choice of words. It was the first time he’d ever acknowledged the Dark Realm as
his
kingdom as well. He had been so hesitant and resistant before.

“Yes,” Ryan confirmed. “
Our
realm. In honor of my father, I’d defend it to my last breath. He wouldn’t have wanted the Dark Realm to fall.”

“He would not,” Nathanial agreed. “But, as your mate, Cora does possess a power over you that no other being could possibly hope to.”

“Then we’d better make sure he doesn’t kill you then.”

“Even if he does, there is another,” Nathanial revealed.

Ryan blinked hard. “You’d better not be talking about Luca. Because, I swear to God—”

“No, of course not. I have another heir.”

“What? Who?”

Nathanial lowered his voice so low that Ryan had to step closer to hear him, even with his wolf hearing. “Marella is with child.
My
child.”

“What?” Ryan exclaimed.

“A truth that
must
remain shrouded in secrecy at all costs, you understand?”

Ryan hesitated.

“I’m sure
Orion
agrees.”

They locked eyes. Ryan growled at Nathanial’s underhanded threat to expose Orion’s name to Vazra if he didn’t keep his and Marella’s secret. Nathanial snarled at Ryan’s hesitancy to keep
his
secret.

“Marella is my family—the only sane one left. I won’t risk anything happening to her.”

Nathanial nodded his thanks. “And I will not breathe a word of your child’s name.”

“Maybe one day we won’t have to threaten each other to force an agreement, huh?”

Nathanial chuckled. “An optimistic outlook.”

CHAPTER 5

Luca roared and struggled against his restraints. He was trapped against the damp, dirty brick wall behind him, his wrists and ankles confined by cuffs made to withstand any vampire’s strength. Michael was positioned a few feet to his left, suffering the same frustration as he.

“Will you shut up?”

Luca’s gaze snapped to his and he snarled, “Next time, check that your magic actually works in the realm we’re trying to take over.”

“How was I to know that Nathanial had put wards in place to block the type of magic that I wield?”

“That was your first mistake: underestimating my father.”

Michael scoffed. “You’re one to talk. He had you on your back, a stake just inches from your heart.”

“He is strong!”

“Yes, I picked up on that after he threw me through a hefty stone wall.”

“As King and with his magical abilities, he’s much stronger than a regular vampire—even a pureblood like me.”

“We’re in purgatory, Luca. Left to hang here for eternity. They don’t feed their prisoners. We will waste away here with no blood, weak, and with the inability to die because of our cursed immortality.”

“Wow, you are so defeatist without your magic,” Luca commented. He pulled at his restraints again. “We are
not
going to spend eternity here.”

“And what is your great escape plan?” Michael snapped.

Luca growled. “I’m working on one.”

“Then you’d better move that along. If you haven’t realized, we’ve been imprisoned here for several days now and no one has come here. Not even your father. No torture.”

Luca nodded. He knew exactly what Michael was getting at. If Nathanial wasn’t going to torture them, it meant only one thing. “He’s going to kill us.”

“He only stopped before because of the shock of your mother’s sudden appearance. I doubt very much that he would hesitate again. Nathanial isn’t known for being merciful with those who challenge him. Cornelius is proof of that.”

“Then call forth
his
magic and get us the fuck out of here!”

“That’s your plan now, is it?”

“You see a problem with it?”

“Yes, you fool! I cannot call the magic of the Dark Realm to me. We are too far away from the castle, from everything. This prison is carved into the
Mountains of
Exspes—
located at the very edge of the realm. Nathanial sent us here on purpose, to prevent me from calling upon his dark magic. Don’t you think if it was an option I would have already done it?”

“
I
can help with that,” a soft female voice spoke.

They both turned their heads. They watched in surprise as Oriana suddenly walked through the wall of their cell and stood before them both, a wry smile on her face.

“Mother.”

“Luca,” she greeted simply. “I assume you are not enjoying yourselves here,” she said, eyeing the both of them bound to the wall before her.

Luca snarled.

“Calm yourself!” she thundered. “If you desire your freedom, that is.”

“What? You’d leave me here? Your own son?”

“I will have no issue with that if you fail to accept my terms of your release. And, keep in mind, it won’t be long before Nathanial kills you both.”

“You won’t let him. You stopped him before. You saved me.”

She rolled her eyes. “You think me naïve and such a slave to sentiment that I would risk crossing the King of the Dark Realm merely to spare your life?”

Luca was shocked. It appeared that he and his mother were more alike than he ever realized.
He
would never put something as ridiculous as love before his agenda, either. He was impressed. He looked to Michael and saw him nodding his approval.

“And what is your agenda, Oriana?” Michael asked, intrigued.

She smiled and folded her arms across her chest as she looked upon them. “Simple. To murder Nathanial and take the Dark Realm. I will not allow the two realms to unite, so I plan to prevent it before it even begins.”

“I believe our agendas mesh very nicely,” Michael said.

Oriana looked to Luca for his agreement as well.

He nodded. “Yes. Now release us, mother.”