Chapter One Hundred and Twenty
“So let me see if I’ve caught myself up to the twisted web you’ve woven yourselves…” Catherine began, trying to picture the puzzle in her head. “I am to mate with Dominic and help him ‘take over the world.’ I’m assuming Gerald will help with taking down the other lycan packs and in doing so be named some kind of Lycan prince or ambassador?” Gerald gave Dominic a nod. “Morgan probably gets Graham or some other high-ranking lycan she’s had her eyes on.” Morgan’s brows rose and she sat straighter in excitement. Catherine shook her head at the stupidity. “Chloe is here so Curtis can suck the life out of her and be more powerful while Julia gets to kill her father.” Stuart sat down, his head swiveling as he tried to pick up with the conversation he’d missed. “I’m guessing you’ve promised him,” Catherine said, pointing from Dominic to Stuart. “That he gets to kill Graham himself and take on some council position.”
“We need him alive at first, I only get to torture him,” Stuart confessed.
“You want him alive? You plan to capture him?” Catherine asked in disbelief. Dominic glared daggers at Stuart as if he’d just revealed a massive piece of confidential information. Catherine thought for a moment. “You said my betrayal will kill him. If you kill him first, his death could do the same for me. Couldn’t it? That’s what you’re afraid of.”
Stuart scoffed. “He’ll be caught by nightfall outside of MoonStone. He’s gotten weak since you came into the picture. He’s off his game. He’ll probably go charging into MoonStone without even giving it a second thought. And then once Dom’s had his way with you, we get to fuck,” Stuart whispered in her ear.
Catherine jerked away from him. “Don’t fucking touch me. What is he talking about?” Catherine asked, turning to Dominic who wore a reproachful expression toward Stuart.
“It has yet to be decided if…”
“You said when I came on that I could be the lycan donor,” Stuart cut in. “That’s why I gave you my intel and why I agreed to use my mother. I get to be commander of your forces and give you lycan heirs.”
Dominic gave him a cold look that kept him from saying more. Catherine’s chest felt tight. She refused to look away from Dominic. When Dominic met Catherine’s gaze it was filled with regret. He tried to reach out to take her hand but she jerked it out of reach. He sighed.
“No wolf has ever been gifted, I want to test the gene out with a lycan father to ensure the best bloodline for our children,” Dominic explained as if he were discussing why he chose liquor rather than water for dinner.
“You’re crazy…” she whispered. “My gift doesn’t have to do with genes but with the Moon Goddess. She’ll punish you for what you’ve done and what you’re planning.” Dominic rolled his eyes and went back to his steak. “So you want me to, what? Help you take over all of wolf and lycan kind and then spawn an army? Are you delusional?”
“Not delusional, Girl. More curious,” the man she didn’t know spoke up.
“Who are you?” Catherine asked.
The man straightened his tie and held his hand out. Catherine glanced at it until he let it fall back down. “Uh, Mark Cantrell, Senator.”
Catherine looked back at Dominic. “You’re joking.”
“We can use your gift for many things, Catherine,” Dominic said. “Moving mountains in congress though takes a finer touch. He’ll help us out when the time
comes.”
“And what does he get?” she asked, afraid of the answer.
“What we all get,” Stuart whispered suggestively. His hand slid along her thigh and squeezed. “You, power, and the gifted heirs you’ll bring us.”
Catherine’s rage soared. The darkness in her swelled and clashed. This time, she didn’t ignore it or push it down. She picked up her steak knife and drove it into Stuart’s neck. Blood sprayed from his neck and splashed across her face. Stuart screamed and braced his hand against the table. She pulled the knife from his neck and stabbed it through his hand pinning it to the table. When she reached for the other knife beside her plate, someone yanked her back before she could reach it.
Dominic held her in a vice and pulled her away from Stuart while the rest of the table gagged at the blood before them. Catherine kicked her legs and managed to knock Stuart in the head with one of her heels. She heard a satisfying crunch before he fell to the floor, screaming in pain.
Dominic continued to pull her back, ignoring her futile struggles. Once out of the dining room, he let her go only to fling her over his shoulder. He started to walk down the hall and back up the stairs. The entire way to her room she fought against his grip. She cursed and screamed. She extended her claws and
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dug them into his spinal cord.
Once in her bedroom, he closed the door with his foot and threw her to the ground. Catherine gasped as her head collided with the floor. Her world went black for a moment. The room spun around her as she pushed up on her palms. She looked up to see Dominic pulling his belt from his pants.
“No,” Catherine panted, skirting back on her hands. “Don’t touch me.”
“You need to relearn your manners. That was not the proper way to treat a dinner guest. Once you’re Luna…”
“I will never be your Luna!” Catherine screamed in pure frustration. She stood up and squared her shoulders. “I don’t love you! I never will! I will never stop fighting you, Dominic. I will never sit there and be the doting mate or partner. I will never help you kill innocent lives in search of power. I will never submit to you!!”
Dominic watched her display with disinterest. His belt hung loosely by his side. Meanwhile Catherine’s chest rose and fell so sharply she was shocked she was able to hold herself up.
“Get on the bed,” he commanded.
“No,” she whispered.
“Catherine, get on the…”
“No!”
Dominic’s eyes flashed gold and his teeth twisted into a snarl. Catherine’s eyes widened as he lurched for her. She shrieked and turned to run only for him to grab her ankle. She kicked back and heard the sound of his nose breaking. Her heart beat painfully against her rib cage as he grappled to get a hold of her. Catherine ducked and rolled, nearly avoiding his grasp. She jumped up from the ground and ran around the bed to get some time and space.
Dominic stood and ran his hand through his hair to push it away from his face. His breathing was hard as he gave her a short laugh. He feigned right and she went to move left. He feigned left and she moved right. Catherine snarled and decided to make the next move. She lunged across the bed and tackled him by the waist. Dominic’s elbow landed in her stomach and Catherine fought to keep her hold on him. A second blow succeeded in taking her air. She rolled over but Dominic was quick to straddle her hips and pin her. His fingers wrapped around her wrists and his hair fell in his face as he smiled down at her.
“Someone’s been getting lessons, huh?”
“Oh yeah,” she hissed.
Catherine brought her knee up, hitting him in the groin. His grip loosened on her wrists and she plowed the heel of her hand into his nose, breaking it further. She slung her other fist up and connected with his jaw, sending him to the floor. Catherine scrambled up. She ignored his cursing as she ran for the window. She threw the glass pane up and glanced back to see Dominic staggering to his feet. Pounding started at the doors, most likely his guards having heard the commotion.
Catherine thought of Graham as she threw herself out the second-story window. The air blurred past her. She prepared for the impact of the azalea bushes beneath her. When her shoulder hit the ground, it wasn’t flowers in bloom that broke her fall. Catherine groaned as she pushed herself up. She felt her shoulder and knew she’d knocked it out of the socket again.
She looked around and tried to stifle the feeling of hopelessness bubbling up in her chest. The scent of pine was everywhere in the bedroom with a crackling fire and canopy bed. It was so similar to his room in MoonStone she wondered if he had a designer replicate it. Catherine stood up and swayed when the nausea from her dislocated shoulder threatened to bring her down. She walked to the canopy bed, pushed her shoulder against the dark wood and shoved. Her shoulder went back in place with a startling pop. She hissed through her teeth and leaned her forehead against the bedpost.
Graham, she called through the mindlink.
The door to the room opened quietly. She heard the soft sound of feet over carpet.
“You really enjoy testing your boundaries as soon as possible, don’t you?” Dominic panted behind her.
Catherine kept her eyes closed and her head against the bedpost. It was like deja vu. Only this time, Catherine wasn’t a helpless, scared, lonely, outcast. She had a home. A family. A man who knew how to love properly. A man who was trying to get to her. A man who taught her how to defend herself. She thought of all the times Graham told her she was strong, intelligent, worthy. She remembered how he’d helped her shift and overcome so many of her fears.
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Vapier Une mununcu anu
Tweny
Dominic continued to approach from behind. With each step, more of Catherine’s hair stood on end in awareness. She took a deep breath and focused on the wall she’d erected around her wolf. A brick fell, followed by another as the wall in her mind came crashing down. She wouldn’t let Dominic touch her. She wouldn’t let anyone touch her. Magic, voodoo, poison or not, no one was going to use her. She was not going to be the victim any more. She was the gifted one. She was the person everyone under this roof should fear. The last coherent thought she had was how badly she wished she could witness what she was about to do. Then she gave herself over to instinct.
