The Prophecy

|| Chapter Eighteen ||

Bea had just sat down at her desk to enjoy her first cup of coffee of the day when her laptop started ringing. She groaned and lifted the mug to her face, intent on ignoring the ringing and giving the caffeine a chance to work its magic. The ringing stopped momentarily but just before she could take a celebratory sip, the ringing kicked off again.

Slamming the mug down, she glared at her screen but visibly softened when she realised who was calling.

“Hey, you,” she greeted, surprisingly gentle to the person who dared to interrupt her morning ritual.

“Oops, interrupted your morning date, didn’t I?” her best friend's voice chirped through the screen.

“Mhmmm,” Bea hummed, finally taking a long loud slurp of coffee, “What’s up, babe?”

“I have the best – “

Gabby was interrupted by a deeper voice calling over her shoulder – “Have you told her yet?”

“No, I haven’t! I was about to!” Gabby yelled at the burly figure settling down next to her. She punched him playfully on the arm but pecked him quickly on the cheek.

“Well?” Bea pushed. The coffee wasn’t working as fast as she wanted it to and as much as she loved her brother and her best friend, she was most definitely not a patient person.

“We’re having a baby!” Gabby squealed, throwing her hands up excitedly. “You’re going to be an auntie, Bea!”

Bea’s eyes widened and she grinned widely at the happy couple. “Congratulations you guys! Let’s hope it’s a little Gabby because we do not want a little Ben running around hey.”

Gabby giggled while Ben shot his sister a betrayed look. “You better be back here for a visit when the pup arrives, Bee, we miss you. Mum misses you.”

She smiled sadly at them and it occurred to her how much she missed her family. It’d been almost 2 months now since she last hugged them, making it the longest span of time since she’s physically been with her family, even when she was finished up her degree in the city.

“What’s wrong, Bee?” Gabby asked softly, noticing her sad look. “What’s going on over there? You haven’t really told us much besides Lachlan showing his ugly face. I can’t believe that he played so nicely with us, but he turns around and he’s such an absolute creeper. Ugh.”

Bea snorted at that last bit but blew out a breath of air. Slowly, she ran through the recent events, only pausing momentarily when Bennett snarled and started pacing behind Gabby. When she got to the part where she and Alexander marked each other so they could heal, Gabby clapped excitedly. “Yes! I knew you’d get through to that man!” She could only grin at her best friend but chose to skip the rundown of dinner and the after-party. Especially with her brother in punching distance.

“So, what now?” Bennet asked, returning to his seat.

“I don’t know Ben. We’re waiting for Ricci to call and see if we’ve got a concrete lead. Besides that, I don’t know. This thing feels so overwhelming. I’m sure there’s something else brewing under the surface but I can’t quite place my finger on it.”

“Well, you let us know if we can do anything to help, alright? We’ll be on the next flight out there.” Ben said firmly. She could laugh at the serious look on her brother's face but then she remembered that he’s Alpha now and he’s long since grown up from the overgrown teenager chasing her through the grapevines.

“Of course, Alpha Rhodes. Love you guys.”

“Love you!”

Gabby blew her kisses and they disappeared from the screen.

Bea drained the rest of her coffee and eyed the plush couch in the corner, casually contemplating a sneaky nap. Those cloud-like cushions, the fluffy throw blanket, the light rain tapping against the roof, the conditions were perfect. She could lock the door and pretend she was back in her room at home and pretend that there wasn’t a group of psycho supernatural creatures armed with a conspiracy against her and a cursed ritual. Or she could be a responsible adult and get the latest budgets done before attempting to do more research on the aforementioned conspiracy.

She considered briefly that maybe she should be taking it easier and that the last attack had left a more lasting impression but then she’d have to admit that she wasn’t strong enough. If she knew anything about pack hierarchy, ranks don’t mean jack if you couldn’t hold your own to protect said pack and live to tell the tale so Luna or Lycan, this pack would probably be just the same.

Her laptop started dinging again causing her to jolt to attention and shake herself awake, her daydream of a mid-morning nap slowly floating out of reach. She tapped at her keyboard and a familiar face filled the screen.

“Buongiorno Luna Knight,” Alpha Ricci greeted.

“Good morning Alpha Ricci, how are you?” She smiled widely, hoping it would hide her tiredness.

“Well, thank you. I visited the elders yesterday and we’ve got good news and bad news.”

“Oh?”

He chewed on the inside of his cheek momentarily before continuing, “the tale I described, that is in the volume,”

“That’s great! Can you send through a scan of the pages or even the whole book?”

“Ah you see, there is the bad news. The elders say no. They’re set in their ways, you see, and they believe the volume holds many secrets. If you would like to see the pages, they insist that you must come here.”

“But Alpha,” she protested, “I’m not sure Alexander would agree to that.”

“I’m sorry Luna, but their word is final. Please send my greetings to Alpha Knight and we’ll look forward to your visit.”

He shot her a final smile and ended the video call.

 --- 

It took a lot less convincing than Bea thought he would need but having Willow Knight as backup played to her favour. Grand Luna Knight even offered to hold the fort, allowing for both Matthias and Jasper to travel to Italy with them. In the interest of discretion, it was decided that a large security escort was unnecessary so having both Matthias and Jasper was perfect.

Bea managed to finally get that nap on the short flight and not 12 hours after the initial conversation with Alpha Ricci, the group was strolling into the foyer of a large 3-bedroom suite in the center of Naples. Accommodation in the local packhouse was offered but if their movements were being watched, they would put the pack at risk.

It was already dark when they drove from the airport to the hotel but from what Bea could make out, this was definitely somewhere she would like to visit on a social call. Even now, the view from her ornate window painted a beautiful picture. She would have to speak to Alexander about coming back for a proper visit when this is all over. If this thing ever ends.

As if summoned, the man himself appeared behind her, sliding both arms around her waist and resting his chin on the top of her head. She leaned back against him and shut her eyes, letting the rise and fall of their chests sync up and allowing her shoulders to relax.

“We should come back here, after, I’ve never been to Italy and it’s beautiful, even in the dark,” she murmured lowly.

“Well, you’ve been to Italy now,” he whispered back, kissing her lightly on the side of her head.

“This doesn’t count, and you know it.”

“Well, I do have to take you on our honeymoon. A proper honeymoon this time.”

“What would your human staff think, a second honeymoon so soon?”

“They’ll just think I can’t take my hands off my irresistible wife and they’d be absolutely right.” He captured her lobe in his mouth and nipped at it playfully, his hands gently caressing her torso, one hand tracing up her chest towards her neck.

Alexander’s tongue swirled around the captive lobe while his fingers applied pressure, ever so slightly, on either side of her throat. The other hand traced a path south and settled at the apex of her legs, one finger gently playing at the seam of her pants. The combined sensations from his ministrations sent an electric shock through her brain and her back arched, pushing her bottom into his crotch, throwing her head back and further into the mercy of his deft tongue and fingers.

Bea reached back to place a hand behind his head, guiding his wandering tongue towards her mark. She could feel him smile against her skin as he figured out her game plan. “Ask and you shall receive, my little wolf,” he whispered against her before sinking his human teeth into her mark. The loud moan escaping her lips confirmed he was on the right track and spurred him on to trace the ridges with his tongue

She panted hungrily and ground against his burgeoning erection, whimpering at the feel of his hardness rubbing against her sensitive nub. She felt his hands dip along the top of her pants and in a swift motion, the soft material was replaced with the nip of cool air. Continuing his exploration of her throat and ear lobes, Alexander unzipped his pant and shuffled them down to join hers.

“Hold onto the window, love,” he growled into her ear.

Bea barely managed to untangle her hand from his hair and onto the window frame when he started to press into her hot dripping core. Her back arched and she released a long throaty moan as she felt every inch of him slide deep inside her. Once he was fully inside her, he paused, allowing her to stretch and adjust to his girth.

“Oh f**k”, she groaned, leaning her head against her hand. The view of Naples in front of her was beautiful in the moonlight but now even more so, complemented by the slight reflection of Alexander’s face, eyes shut in ecstasy.

His eyes flew open, catching her reflection in the window. He shot her a sly grin and rolled his hip, sliding himself in and out slightly. As her pants increased in tempo, so did his thrusts. With one hand firmly on her hip, he gathered and wrapped her hair around the other, hugging her upper body back against his chest. She turned her head slightly, tilting upwards to look into his eyes.

Her lips were red, juicy, from biting down to keep her moans quiet. Having the boys in the next rooms was not ideal for the newly mated couple but being Lycans themselves, they would understand. Alexander gave into temptation and took her lower lip between his teeth, nipping and tugging and swallowing each one of her breathy moans.

Alexander released her lips momentarily and slid out of her, swiftly turning her to face him. Kissing her hungrily again, he reached down and lifted from the back of her thighs, securing her legs around his waist as he penetrated her warmth once more. Balancing her lightly on the window frame, she shrugged her sweatshirt off and flung it to the floor. He pushed her onto the window now and she hissed as the cold glass made contact with her back. But her complaints were soon forgotten when he started to thrust against her.

Desperate for some leverage against him, she tugged at his hair and went for his mark. Mimicking his earlier moves, she nipped at his mark and sucked hard against the skin. He growled and thrust harder into her, now holding onto the door frame with one hand to stabilise the both of them.

Bea thought that once they finally mated and completed the mating process, the lusty thoughts would finally cut her some slack but oh how wrong she was. The way that he fit perfectly inside her and the way she folded just the right way around his body, the rivers of fire that erupted every time they touched…

With every thrust, she could feel herself ride higher and higher on the wave of pleasure, and soon she was careening on the edge. Looking up into Alexander’s eyes, she could see that he was barely holding onto the thin line of control. “Alexander,” she whispered, breathless, “I’m close…”

His eyes snapped to hers and he grinned. “Hold on little wolf,”

Alexander lowered her lips onto hers as she gripped onto his strong shoulders. He began to thrust harder and faster and as she held on for dear life, one final thrust pushed the both of them over the edge. She screamed into his roar of pleasure as she fell, the absolute exhilaration and pleasure exploding in every synapse of her brain. A few final thrusts and they both stilled.

The only sound in the room was their loud pants as they recovered. Bea, still wrapped around his waist, rested her head in the crook of his neck, mewled in protest when he began to walk them to the bathroom.

She untangled herself from him long enough to stand under the hot shower but was soon overcome with exhaustion. The last thing she remembered was a soft chuckle and getting wrapped up in a fluffy towel.