Slip of Fate (Werelock Evolution Book 1) (30 page)

Despite the grim prospects Alcaeus was relaying, I was grateful someone was finally bothering to explain the situation to me. A wave of calm came over me as his hand casually brushed against my calf, his fingers skimming innocently over my jean-clad lower leg to rest lightly atop my shin, earning him another warning growl from Alex.

He didn’t remove his hand.

“Traditionally, the change will occur over the course of a week. So you’re transforming uncommonly fast right now, honey.” Alcaeus’ tone was so forthright and sincere, the energy rolling off of him so effusive with concern, and yet fully composed and authoritative. It was precisely the balm my psyche needed. I was captivated.

“Will you give me permission to enter your mind if I am able to, Milena? To do what is necessary in order to slow down your change and keep you safe?”

I nodded minutely again within Alex’s increasingly proprietary embrace.

“Are you certain?” Alcaeus checked, his tone uncharacteristically austere. “Because I don’t believe it will work unless you’re able to genuinely trust me. Do you understand?”

I inhaled his alluring scent as I contemplated whether or not I could trust him. Then I realized I somehow already did. Not simply because I’d gone crazy and was desperate to be able to count on someone who might be able to help me. Or because it made any other rational sense I could pinpoint, but because trust was often an instinctive response. And right now Alcaeus
smelled
like someone I needed—
wanted
to put my faith in.

Before I’d even responded in the affirmative, I felt the subtlest shift within my drugged, pain-laden system. “Yes,” I confirmed aloud.

My heart stopped hurting.

“For most humans,” Alcaeus expounded, “the change is initiated through the venom of a werewolf bite infecting them. In your case, we have another distinct anomaly in that it appears to be your own innate, self-preservation response to your near death that has triggered your latent werelock gene’s emergence.”

Ever so slowly, my heart rate was decreasing now. Alex’s thundered louder than ever in my ear, even as he released a weighty sigh of relief.

“Then it would seem as if Alex’s blood essentially
irritated
it,” Alcaeus theorized humorously, “compounding the problem by accelerating your system’s rate of mutation, causing you to generate new cells faster than your still mostly human body is presently equipped to handle.”

My bones no longer felt like they were disintegrating.
My hope soared
. Alex was breathing harder now, his chest rising and falling rapidly beneath me. Remy whispered something to Kai in Portuguese.

“Part of how we became a superior race is that through our magic we werelocks have perfected the process of assisting a human’s initial shift so that it’s slower and far less, if at all, painful.” Alcaeus’ warm palm drifted from my denim-encased shin to gently bracelet my exposed ankle.

The skin-on-skin contact sent a pulse of pure bliss coursing through me, obliterating any remaining apprehension I might’ve been harboring. A rumble of dissatisfaction rolled through Alex’s chest.

“Because unlike one born a werewolf or of partial were descent, whose body is naturally stronger, the human body isn’t equipped to handle the initial change, and has to catch up. If your regeneration and healing abilities lag behind the rate at which you shift for the first time, the results aren’t often pretty.”

My head had begun buzzing with that now-familiar healing sensation, pleasant tingles running down my spine and spreading out in all directions as warmth embraced and soothed my recently abused insides. I couldn’t help but emit a peaceful moan as my body fully relaxed, all of my pain vanishing until only the strange vibrating sensation in my blood remained; irrefutable evidence I would never again be the same human girl I’d been when I’d arrived in Brazil.

As my tension dissipated, I sensed Alex’s spike, his muscles tightening, his body growing more rigid beneath mine.

“Impossible,”
he hissed.

“Thank fuck!” Remy exhaled in euphoric relief.

“Had it been the wolf venom from a member of our pack which infected you,” Alcaeus proceeded smoothly, his deep voice lulling every part of me until I melted, weightless, against Alex, “any one of us possessing the wherewithal might’ve easily controlled your shift. And had you been a half-were prompted to shift, any higher-ranking werelock within our pack could’ve guided your transformation—provided, of course, your bloodline was one within our purview. However, as it turns out, your blood is quite special, Milena.”

“Fucking inconceivable,” Alex voiced in disbelief to my crown. “There was no possible entry! How the hell did you get in? I tried everything!”

“Except asking permission,” Remy pointed out. I could hear the shit-eating grin that had undoubtedly stretched his features.

“Fuck you, you never asked either!”

“Christ, what does it even matter now? Just drop it!” Kai shocked the hell out of me by openly scolding Remy and Alex as if they were children. “The important thing is that one of us is able to save Milena’s life now without having to hand her over to Gabriel Salvatella.”

“Watch yourself!” Alex reprimanded Kai sharply. “Don’t ever think to presume I’ve lost sight of what matters most here.”

Kai mumbled what sounded like a startlingly half-assed apology to his Alpha. Remy simply told Alex to blow it out his ass.

Tension thickened around me. I was so calm and felt so delightful all over, though, that I didn’t relish the notion of Alex or anyone else being upset. I decided I’d take Alcaeus in my system over opiates any day.

Extending an arm above my head, I laid my palm against Alex’s burning cheekbone and slurred lazily, “S’okay. Don’t be upset. S’all good now.”

His hand that had been cradling my head moved to cup my hand against his cheek. He turned his head and pressed his lips into my palm.

“
Mine,”
he growled into my palm.

I yelped and giggled. Not because of Alex—but because Alcaeus chose that very moment to tickle the bottom of my bare foot.
When had I lost my sandals?

“I believe that remains to be seen,” Alcaeus appraised, causing Alex’s chest to rumble and rattle with suppressed violence beneath my cheekbone.

The air space surrounding me became surfeited with friction. A major power struggle was brewing.
I could feel it
.

“
She. Is.
Mine.
”

Twisted as it was, as Alex’s fierce decree reverberated through me, it caused my stomach to flutter and my vibrating blood to rush with delicious excitement.

“So you finally acknowledge your desire to claim her as your true mate then?” Alcaeus challenged. “
Even
with her alleged Salvatella heritage?”

An anguished, irascible groan sounded deep within Alex’s chest. It was curiously reminiscent of the type of noise my mom might’ve made upon denying herself a particularly decadent slice of chocolate cake she desperately craved.

“
No,”
Alex finally rasped. “She’s not. She … can’t be.” A cross between a whimper and a snarl escaped him as he warred with himself.

Alcaeus hummed in consideration before replying with an emotionless, “Wrong answer. I’m disappointed in you, little brother.”

“Fuck you! I just … I don’t know, okay? I only know I …
want
her. And I’m keeping her!”

“That remains to be seen,” Alcaeus repeated coldly. “And you
do
know. My condolences to your wolf for having to contend with your unfailing idiocy.”

I felt my brow wrinkle at Alcaeus’ assessment. For as sure as I was breathing, I knew Alex was in truth exerting considerable effort in order to so stubbornly subvert his wolf’s inherent desire for me. Somehow I could actually
feel
how much it was distressing his wolf right now.

And while Alex the man’s steadfast rejection shouldn’t have hurt me so much, it did. For the first time his rebuff cut deeper than I would’ve believed possible, in fact.

He was consistently rejecting me for things beyond my control. First my fragile humanity had offended him, and now my supernatural mutt blood wasn’t good enough either. Yet he professed to
want
me still.
Just not as his equal.

That distinction wasn’t lost on me. I reminded myself I didn’t want him either—that I harbored no desire whatsoever to be tethered to that asshole as a mate.
I didn’t even like him!
It was only my silly, schoolgirl ego he’d rankled. Nothing more.

I was so consumed with my thoughts, it belatedly registered that my blood was no longer vibrating with anything remotely close to the level of intensity it had been a minute ago.

“As I was saying, your new blood is quite unique, Milena,” Alcaeus said, his thumb idly circling my inner anklebone as he recaptured my attention. “Terribly rare and long-coveted, in fact. It possesses a transmuted form of magic many of our kind believed had been lost forever. And it belongs to you now. It’s your rightful inheritance.”

Unbidden, the memory of Mateus’ hateful words to my mother flooded me.

“The heart of this whole Salvatella blood curse resides in that little witch sleeping upstairs you want to protect so much!”

Alcaeus’ thumb stilled. I tried to banish the unwelcome childhood memory of the night Mateus had shown up out of nowhere and forever shattered the happy little broken family that Raul, my mom and I had once been.

My mom had threatened to lodge a knife in his heart that night. The night he’d waltzed in and taken Raul from us. And for months and years afterward, whenever I’d cried myself to sleep missing my brother, I had relived that night in my mind and wished that she’d done as she’d threatened.

It dawned on me now that Mateus had condemned and despised me for my apparently cursed blood. Rejected me as his child for circumstances beyond my control.

Much like Alex
.

“But,”
Alcaeus resumed delicately, “unique power can be its own liability. Unless you know how to properly wield it and protect yourself from those who would seek to take it from you. And unfortunately, the warlock’s basic nature tends to be rather power hungry—often to the point of usurping the wolf’s innate drive to protect its own, as we’ve seen werelocks turn against and kill their closest family members in their blind avarice to obtain a rare power.”

“Those monsters would tear every single one of us apart if they knew! Drain the last drops of blood from our decaying corpses to recover the power they believe was stolen from them …”

“What the hell’s happening, Al?” Alex’s concerned, indignant words broke through the memory of Mateus’ rant. “What have you done to upset her?” he accused, his thumb wiping the fresh dampness from my cheek.

It amazed me now how well the details of the argument I’d overheard all those years ago had stayed with me, even as I’d never understood what was happening, never until now deciphered even a hint of the meaning behind the words shouted in anger between my mom and Mateus.
And there was still so much I didn’t understand.

“She’s all right,” Alcaeus said, his thumb tracing my ankle again. “Just a few unpleasant memories is all.”

“What memories? Who upset her? When?
Who?”

“Why not take a lesson from two minutes ago and ask Milena those questions?” Remy clucked.

“Shut up!” Alex lashed out at his brother, before immediately taking his advice. “Milena, what is it? What’s wrong?” he beseeched. “You’re safe now, baby. Alcaeus will see to it your transformation won’t hurt anymore.” His fingers stroked through my hair. “Everything’s going to be fine. I won’t let anything hurt you.”

“Other than yourself, you mean?” Kai said, his tone unabashedly caustic. “Because you can’t seem to go five minutes without upsetting her,” he flagrantly—
albeit accurately
—charged.

Holy hell!
My jaw dropped. My blind eyes flew wide. I’d never heard Kai even come close to addressing his mighty Alpha in an openly aggressive manner before. What had gotten into him?
Was he trying to get himself killed?

Remy’s weak attempt to smother his subsequent shouts of laughter behind his hand didn’t help the situation.

“I’ll kill you,” Alex growled. “Leave,” he ordered.
“Now.”

Alcaeus cleared his throat. “Won’t you please
stay
, Kai?” he contradicted.

“Why, thank you, Al, I believe I will,” Kai replied politely, if somewhat smugly.

What?
Alex stiffened beneath me. His heart sped up; his arms banded around me tighter than before. Remy’s heart sped up as well. I could’ve sworn I felt magic crackling through the air in all directions.

“No,”
Remy gasped. “How? Alcaeus, what’ve you done?”

“Milena, there’s a lot more you still need to learn about your family’s history, as well as ours,” Alcaeus continued—as if the hierarchy of power hadn’t somehow just completely shifted.

Or had I imagined that?
What the fuck was going on?
Damnit, why did I have to be blind right now?

“I don’t blame you for being scared.” Alcaeus’ voice was gentle. “But I promise you, Mateus was wrong. There were many things he simply didn’t know, and even more he didn’t fully understand. Please believe me when I tell you, sweetheart, I’m in this with you now. And I’ll lay down my life protecting you from the Salvatella if it comes to it.”

“As will I,” Kai inserted solemnly.

“I don’t … understand.” I was lost. Fresh tears formed as the sincerity of Alcaeus and Kai’s intentions washed over me, wrapping around and cocooning me in feelings of comfort and safety.

“It’s a lot to absorb, honey. So with your permission, I’d prefer it if we finished this conversation back at my home now, where Kai can also look you over thoroughly and do another blood draw. That okay?”

I nodded.
I was pretty sure I’d follow Alcaeus anywhere right now
.