They wouldn’t stop until I was dead, until their hands were soaked in my blood.
Yet I was also stubborn, intent on beating the force and winning back my mates at all costs. I knew wherever I ran, I could never outrun them. And when the game ended and they realized that they’d murdered their own mate, it would utterly unmake them.
“Baron…honey.” I struggled to get the words out. “I’m yours…your mate Ileana Evie.”
He blinked at my endearment. His lips curled up in satisfaction, ready to break into a cocky smile, but then they pulled back into a half-snarl. Pain rippled across his face as he wrestled with the unbearable force that tried to control him, his bones making cracking sounds at the effort. The Summer King appeared to lose the battle. He snarled furiously, his face becoming beastly, his lion staring out with a savage look. For a second, I wondered if the Fae or the lion would be more protective of his mate.
“Let her go, asshole,” Richie shouted. Suddenly, he was there, aiming his rifle at Baron’s back.
“No! Richie. Don’t shoot!” I called in alarm, my voice rasping, since the Summer King’s hand still gripped my throat. I wasn’t happy about having my feet dangling in the air for a full minute. I thought about ramming my fist into my arrogant mate’s face and thus putting him in his place, but he wasn’t exactly himself at the moment. Struggling would only thrill the predator inside him and draw it to the surface. “Don’t provoke him. I’ll be fine.”
Baron lunged backward in a flash and dragged me with him, his hand shooting out and tearing the rifle from Richie’s hand before my ex-boyfriend could utter a sound. Richie stumbled back and nearly fell on his ass.
Baron pressed the barrel against his thigh and broke it in two, displaying his Fae strength.
Megan and Jill’s eyes went wide with admiration at his prowess. Enthralled by the Fae kings, they hadn’t thought of coming to my rescue. I wasn’t impressed by Baron’s manhandling of me, especially since my throat was starting to feel raw in his vise-like grip.
“Don’t hurt my sister, Baron!” Nox shouted, ready to ram into Baron, but I waved him back in warning. The last thing I wanted was for my team and my brother to draw any attention to themselves.
Initially, I’d decided not to provoke Baron, but now I changed my mind as my patience thinned to a breaking point.
Enough was enough.
I raised my knee and rammed it into the Summer King’s crotch. I was done putting up with him, despite him not being himself right now.
He grimaced and groaned, his free hand cupping his groin. The first day I’d met him in the front yard of my Spanish-style house in Pasadena, I’d also kneed him in the nuts. This seemed to be a recurring scene.
Baron let go of my neck, then he darted a look at the hand that had gripped me, then at my throat. I bet he saw bruises on my skin. A look of horror and self-loathing passed across his face. The pain I’d inflicted on him seemed to reach his mind and reduce his bloodlust.
“Did I do that to you, Evie?” He stared at his hand as if it offended him so much he wanted to cut it off. “I would never—”
“You did, asshole! You bruised my mate!” Rydstrom roared. He’d also shaken off the compulsion. He swung his arm and drove a punch into Baron’s jaw. I winced at the bone-cracking sound. “Let me just kill you and be done with you!”
“No one is killing anyone except our enemies,” I said as I stepped between the kings before they launched into a battle. I’d seen how it ended when they fought, and I had no desire to see another calamity, especially when my brother and my team were around.
I just needed to get through to them and hold them to me before the call of the hunt overwhelmed them again. It appeared that Rydstrom had the upper hand when fighting the bloodlust, as he hadn’t laid a hand on me.
So, I needed to formally and quickly form the mating bond with Baron, too, by fucking him. Turning the Summer King’s guilt into unbridled lust was my immediate plan. His guilt wouldn’t achieve anything anyway.
My mates could smell my arousal, and when the mating call sang in my blood, I let it radiate out. I pulled my hair loose and shook it free, letting