Page 21 of Love Bites Hard (Mated to the King #2)

twenty-one

IZZY

I was sweaty, trembling, and insanely nauseous when I came to. My heart pounded in my head, and my entire body ached.

My mind went back to the hallway immediately, and I tried to reach out to Porter, but I couldn’t feel the pack’s link at all.

The poison might’ve knocked out the pack link, but it couldn’t touch our mate bond. He would know exactly where I was, which meant he was coming for me.

I just had to survive until then.

And considering he hadn’t found me yet, it seemed safe to assume I hadn’t been unconscious for long. That was good.

I felt my stomach start to churn, and immediately rolled to my side. I moved just in time to vomit all over the floor.

When I opened my eyes, I looked around the room, trying to figure out where I was. I was a lot less dizzy than I’d been before I passed out, so that was good.

The space was large for a bedroom, with walls that were covered in brown paneling and a walk-in closet whose door stood open. The darker wood flooring was weathered and scratched. It was nearly black in a crisp rectangle where I was laying, which made me think there had been a bed there for a long time while the sun shone through the wall of windows to my right.

“Disgusting,” a male voice growled, barely glancing over at me from behind his computer. The desk he occupied was elegant and oversized.

I partially expected to find Evan there, wondering if he would’ve betrayed Porter alongside his fiancée, but the guy beside me wasn’t Evan.

He actually looked a lot like Kim.

Shit, was that her brother?

The one who hated Porter and had let his own fiancée die without standing up for her?

“If you’re going to kill me, just get it over with.” I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. It tasted foul, but there was no water nearby for me to rinse with.

The guy ignored me.

I heard the sound of a message being sent, and a minute later, Kim stepped into the room.

Her nose wrinkled when she saw the vomit on the floor, but she focused on her brother. “Ready?”

“Yeah. Are you guys?” he checked.

“All set. Grab the siren.”

The siren.

I’d thought Kim and I were friends, but apparently I’d been wrong.

That stung.

Kim’s brother grabbed my waist, and I almost vomited again when he threw me over his shoulder. Porter had done the same thing in the past, but he was gentle. It had been comfortable.

Kim’s brother didn’t give a damn if it hurt me, and it did. The way my ribs slammed into him made me confident I’d be bruised afterward.

And I had to believe there would be an afterward .

They wouldn’t have bothered to abduct me if they just wanted me dead. Right?

I lifted my head just enough to try to see where I was going.

He carried me out of the nearly-empty bedroom and into a gigantic living area. There was a wooden chair set up in the middle, and all of the other furniture seemed to have been pushed up against the walls. I was still too dizzy to make out the details from so far away, but the basic shapes were there.

Kim’s brother slammed me into the wooden chair hard enough that I saw stars. The wood cracked a little, but thankfully held its shape.

There were four other people in the room. I vaguely recognized one of them, but the others were strangers to me.

Kim’s brother fastened me to the chair with zip ties, as if they hadn’t already drugged the shit out of me. He pulled them tighter than he needed to, but I didn’t give him the pleasure of wincing.

Even though I definitely wanted to.

I reached for the pack’s link again. Though I could finally feel it, it was so faint that I couldn’t use it or hear anything through it. When I tried to find Porter that way, it didn’t work.

I’d need more time.

I focused on the other people in the room—and my eyes widened when I realized that three of the four held guns.

All of which were pointed at me.

The fourth was typing something into a computer.

Kim’s brother stepped behind me, and I felt the bite of something sharp. I didn’t look down, but it seemed safe to assume it was a knife.

Shit.

Maybe they were going to kill me after all.

“Security cameras finally caught him on the west side of the property,” the woman at the laptop said, focusing on her screen as her fingers flew across the keyboard. “Moving as fast as expected.”

“He’s alone, right?” Kim demanded.

“Let me try to zoom in…” the woman continued typing.

“He always worked alone before,” Kim’s brother said calmly. “I’m sure Evan isn’t with him.”

Kim nodded, though it looked forced.

She was worried about Evan being with Porter?

Why?

“I don’t see anyone else,” the woman at the laptop said. “But they could be behind him. We didn’t make it into the city’s security cameras like we hoped.”

“Fuck,” Kim hissed. “If Evan’s with him…”

“We go through with the plan,” the laptop woman said without looking away from the screen. “He’ll forgive you after he’s alpha.”

Wait…

Was she saying Kim wasn’t working with Evan? She was going against her fiancé?

And wanted to make him the alpha?

Damn.

“Evan and I are friends. If you kill me or Porter, he’ll refuse to step up as alpha. He might even kill you,” I said quietly, tapping into my magic a little. Though I didn’t want to risk pissing anyone off, I had to do something to save myself and my mate. My mother had taught me how to slip my power into my voice, to influence a conversation to go my way. I never used it, on principle—but in this situation, I’d dig into every tool I had.

“I’m going to be his mate,” Kim said fiercely. “He’ll take my side.”

“If he killed your brother, would you take his side?” I asked, pushing a little more magic forward.

“Shut up,” her brother snarled, pressing the knife harder into my skin and drawing a small amount of blood.

Kim didn’t seem stable—but her brother seemed fucked up.

I backed off on my magic.

Guess Porter was going to have to get us out of the situation on his own.

“Easy, Corbin,” one of the guys holding a gun warned Kim’s brother. “If he smells her blood, he’ll be a lot harder to negotiate with.”

The guy had a point.

Corbin, Kim’s brother, scoffed.

He moved his knife long enough to wipe at my throat roughly with his sleeve. I winced, but at the same time, was kind of glad he’d have my blood on him.

It would tell Porter who to kill.

The grimace on the other guy’s face told me Corbin had only managed to smear the blood over more of my skin.

“It’s going to be a miracle if we make it out of this alive,” one of the other guys muttered.

Corbin snarled at him, too.

“There’s another vehicle incoming,” the laptop chick warned. “East side. Driver looks like…”

She trailed off, and all of us looked at her laptop’s screen.

“Fuck!” Kim cried out, looking at the door. “I knew this was a bad idea.”

“It was your idea,” the laptop girl tossed back.

“It was Corbin’s,” she argued.

“You poisoned the chocolate. Only way out now is by killing his mate and making a run for it,” Corbin growled.

“He’ll still scent her in the room. There is no way out now,” the laptop girl said, still typing furiously. “I’m closing the east gates. Might buy us a few minutes without Evan.”

“He’ll scent you in the room too,” Corbin told his sister. “You’re just as fucked as I am.”

“Unless we kill Porter while we distract Evan.” Kim’s eyes were on me.

Her desperation was definitely showing.

“No. If we kill Porter, the pack kills us,” one of the gun guys said, shaking his head. “That was never the plan.”

“We took his mate. There’s a damn good chance he kills us before they get to,” another gun guy said.

“That’s what the weapons are for,” Kim shot back.

“Everyone, just—” the third gun man began.

He cut himself off when the front door near us swung open, and Porter stepped inside.

His fists were clenched, and the situation was dire, but I was still relieved to see him alive and whole.

His gaze met mine immediately, but he didn’t relax.

There was a knife to my throat, after all.

“Hands in the air,” Corbin growled. “Step any closer, and she dies.”

A vein in Porter’s throat pulsed.

He slowly lifted his hands, forcing his fists open.

“Tell your team to turn around,” Kim ordered. “We can see them on the cameras, and we don’t want them involved.”

It was a good idea, actually. Not for me—it was terrible for me. But for them, it was good.

And it wasn’t surprising she didn’t want Evan involved.

But with the pack link between them, I was sure that Porter had already told Evan exactly who had betrayed them.

I pushed against the mental bond again, and fought to hide my thrill when I finally felt the faintest of brushes.

Porter’s mind was against mine, trying to gain entry.

“Lower your weapons,” Porter said, his voice authoritative enough that one of the guys actually did lower his gun. “If you leave now, I’ll let you live.”

The guy who lowered his gun avoided everyone else’s gaze and hurried out the door, behind Porter.

My mate didn’t look back.

He didn’t look away from me at all.

“Give me your terms,” he said.

“Release the pack’s link to Evan. Step down as alpha,” Kim said.

Porter didn’t respond right away.

His mind brushed mine, and I faintly heard his voice in my mind. “Can you access your magic?”

I tried to respond, but couldn’t.

“If you can, send a small amount of it through the room. We want them to lose control without realizing what you’re doing. Slowly increase the amount,” Porter added.

I did as he’d instructed.

“Evan is a strong wolf, but he couldn’t take down Curtis. And Curt’s friends are still out there. If I give the pack to Evan, it’ll fall into the hands of someone else just like Curt,” Porter said calmly.

“Evan can handle it,” Kim snapped.

“No, I can’t.” Evan stepped into the house behind Porter.

Guess he hadn’t left after all.

Panic flooded Kim’s face, but she regained composure and made her expression neutral.

“If I take over the pack, people will die. I won’t be able to hold on to it. Porter’s the best guy for the job,” Evan added, his gaze fixed on Kim.

“Hands up,” one of the guys growled, and Evan raised his hands to match Porter’s. “When he mated with a siren his strength became meaningless.”

“That siren saved all of us by offering him her freedom,” Evan countered. “You don’t need fur to be a part of the pack.”

“Just give the pack to Evan so we can get this fucking show on the road,” Corbin growled again. “Hand over the pack, or watch your mate lose her head.”

“I have no reason to believe that you don’t intend to remove her head no matter what I do,” Porter said. “I’m not going to be the first one to yield. Let her go, and we can talk about an outcome all of us will agree on.”

“If we let her go, you’re just going to kill us,” the laptop girl argued, finally looking away from the screen.

“If we give in, you could kill her. We can all see the blood on her throat.” Evan gestured toward me.

Porter’s chest rumbled in anger, the first visible sign of the fury I knew was bubbling beneath his skin.

Silently, I turned up the flow of my magic a little more.

It would make everyone feel warm and a little turned on—but with the intensity of the moment, they would chalk it up to their physical response to what was happening.

I couldn’t really hit my magic hard until Corbin moved the knife away from my throat.

“Just give Evan the pack,” Kim commanded, desperation seeping into her voice. “I’m done watching him spend all of his time with you. He should be with me. We should be in charge. Everything was fine between us before you came back.”

The anger—and pain—in her eyes was clear.

She poisoned me and either organized or joined a rebellion because she was jealous .

Not jealous that I was mated to Porter.

Jealous that the guy she wanted as her mate had chosen Porter over her since he returned to the pack.

She just wanted time with her fiancé.

It was understandable, until you got to the part where she thought she should betray her alpha rather than working things out with the guy she’d claimed as her mate.

“Kim,” Evan said, and he had her complete attention. “If Porter gives me the pack, someone else will challenge me, and I’ll lose. Becoming the alpha would kill me. I’m sorry if I’ve been spending too much time working for the pack, but getting me killed isn’t the answer. We can talk. Work things through.”

I didn’t know if he was serious or not, and I didn’t know if Porter would let her leave alive, but he really sold the words.

Tears welled up in Kim’s eyes.

“Put the knife down, Corbin,” she ordered.

He laughed darkly and pressed it harder to my throat.

“Hit him hard with your magic,” Porter commanded, with panic in his voice that didn’t show on his face. “He won’t be able to hurt you when it floods him.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. Hold the magic until we’ve dealt with the threat entirely.”

I hesitated a moment.

I couldn’t feel the effects of my own magic, or my sisters’. I didn’t know Corbin, either. I couldn’t say for sure how he would respond to the feel of my power.

But Porter knew it intimately, in a way no one else ever had or would.

And I trusted him.

So I tapped into the magic within me, and shoved it into the room. There was no ceremony or flourish—just a thick wave of siren magic.

Corbin groaned, and immediately lowered the knife.

Everyone else made similar noises.

The gun guys dropped their weapons. One started toward me.

The laptop chick leaned against the table she was set up on, arching her back and closing her eyes.

Corbin’s knife finally hit the floor.

The moment it did, Porter moved.

The sound of Corbin’s spine snapping behind me a moment later made me shudder, violently.

I was basically holding everyone down so he could kill them.

But considering the alternative was to let them kill me, participating was the best choice. I could deal with the mental fuckery of it after I was safe.

While Porter took down Corbin, Evan shifted his nails to claws and tore through the laptop chick’s throat, which made me think she was a bigger threat than I’d realized. The other guys had guns, even if their weapons were all on the floor.

Porter and Evan killed them just as fast, negating my theories about them being less of a threat.

Evan’s hands were covered in blood when he finally turned to Kim, who was leaning against the wall as she tried to fight my magic. Porter was still physically clean.

For a moment, I saw the uncertainty in Evan’s eyes.

He couldn’t kill his fiancée.

I knew Porter well enough to be sure he wouldn’t let his friend do that.

As expected, my mate set a hand on Evan’s shoulder. “I need to question her, to figure out if anyone else is involved. Can you free Izzy?”

Evan jerked his head in a nod.

“Release the magic, baby,” he murmured into my mind, meeting my gaze for a moment. The look in his eyes was intense, and full of emotions I couldn’t read with the space between us. “I’m sorry I’m not getting you out of that chair myself, but asking Evan to deal with her is a bad idea.”

“I get it. Thanks for coming after me.”

“Always.”

Porter made quick work of using Kim’s zip ties on her wrists and ankles, positioning her hands in a way that she couldn’t use her claws to get herself out.

She tried calling out to Evan for help a few times, but he ignored her.

His hands shook a little as he used his claws to carefully cut through the zip ties holding me to the chair. He pulled a little bit on one around my bicep, and I winced.

“Sorry,” he apologized quickly. “I?—”

“Don’t worry about it. This situation is really screwed up. I don’t expect you to have your shit together.”

He let out a choked laugh. It was almost a cry.

My heart ached for the guy.

“That’s an understatement,” he finally said, working through the last two ties. “I didn’t know. I would’ve told Porter. I would’ve made sure they couldn’t hurt you. We’ve had problems in our relationship since the beginning, but I would’ve told you if I’d known. I would never let this happen if I could stop it. I?—”

“I know.” I stood up and set a hand on Evan’s arm. Sirens were big on touch, but wolves even more. He would need support. I didn’t know him well enough to be that for him, but in the moment, I’d help the only way I could.

He closed his eyes, letting out a shaky breath. “I should’ve realized.”

“No one expects the person they love to do what she did. It’s not your fault,” I said firmly, stepping toward him and wrapping my arms around him. Porter would probably be a little annoyed, but I knew he would understand in this situation.

Sure enough, before Evan had time to hug me back, Porter was in the room and squashing me between him and Evan with a hug of his own.

“Your mate’s going to smell like me,” Evan choked out.

“She already reeks of wolfsbane, vomit, blood, and Corbin. Your scent’s basically perfume at this point,” Porter grumbled back.

I couldn’t suppress a teary laugh.

After a few minutes, Evan finally pulled away. “You should get going. The guys are ready to search this place for evidence of other plans and anyone else who might be involved. I’d like to stay and help.”

Porter wrapped an arm around my waist, his grip tight in a way that told me he definitely wasn’t feeling as calm as he seemed. “That’s fine. We’ll take Kim back. I’m assuming you don’t want to be involved.”

Evan shook his head. “She poisoned your mate and threatened to have her killed out of jealousy. No one should forgive that.”

We were in agreement there, even if the warring emotions on his face were much less certain than the ones I felt.

“Let me know when you want an update,” Porter said, and Evan nodded. “I won’t end her until you decide whether you want a final conversation.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course.”

Porter gave Evan another quick hug, his arm remaining around my waist as he pulled my back to his chest and led me out of the building. It was pitch-black outside, clearly the middle of the night, but there were lights around the house. Porter’s truck was waiting in front of us, and the familiarity of it made my chest ache.

There were a half dozen other vehicles there already, with wolves Porter trusted swarming around them. There were so many that even if one or two had been working with Kim, they wouldn’t be able to do anything to hurt us.

He ignored the passenger side altogether, carrying me to the driver’s and lifting me into the truck. I was in good enough shape that I could’ve climbed in myself, but I knew he needed to be in control.

As soon as the door shut behind him, he’d set me on his lap, my chest against his. His arms went around my back, his hands slipping beneath my shirt so his palms were on my bare skin. Pressing his nose to my hair, he inhaled deeply, and his chest rumbled angrily.

“Are we driving her back?” I asked him quietly, after a few minutes had gone by. He didn’t seem to be calming down, not that I blamed him.

“No. If we were alone with her, I would rip her spine out and feed it down her fucking throat.”

His viciousness didn’t surprise me. His calmness back in the building had, however.

“They’re probably working with more people,” I said softly.

“I know. We’ll get their names out of her. Everyone will be on their best behavior until then, and I have enough people with her that no one will be able to help her.”

I nodded against him.

He let out a slow breath. “I was so fucking terrified.”

“I know. Me too. But I’m okay.”

“I can smell your blood on your skin, baby.”

“If you were a vampire, you’d find it appealing.”

He barked out a laugh, shaking his head as his entire body started to tremble “I can’t live without you. I survived without my family, just barely—but I can’t lose you. I fucking can’t.”

“You’re not going to.”

“There’s no guarantee.”

“We’ll just stick together all the time. It’s not a big deal.”

“You like space, Izzy,” he grumbled.

“I like living a lot more. When I need space, I’ll make you take me on a hike or a run.”

“I can manage that.” His arms tightened around me. “I think you’re going to have to feed on me, if you want me to turn the truck on. And don’t offer to drive—I’m not letting you take the wheel with wolfsbane in your system.”

“That’s fair.” I tipped my head back, and pressed my lips to his. He opened for me after a moment, and I tapped into his emotions.

Fear.

Pain.

Betrayal.

Relief.

As I drank, his emotions deepened.

Desperation.

Possession.

Devotion.

Terror.

Determination.

He was still my buffet. Something told me that would always be the case. The man just felt things more deeply than most people.

We kissed slowly, and I remembered Blair asking me and Avery about Damian’s devotion.

About whether or not it could be love.

I’d told her, “He wants you to be his mate. His real mate. Anyone with eyes can see that.”

She hadn’t been sure, because of the way they started out. Damian hadn’t given her a choice.

Unlike her, I had chosen to mate with Porter. But that choice didn’t come with emotions. It didn’t mean he cared about me, or that I cared about him. We had developed those feelings ourselves, over time.

And while our bond had been an emotionless arranged marriage at the beginning, it had become so much more.

I drank until he had become slightly less panicked, and finally pulled away. Wrapping my arms around him, I buried one of my hands in his hair and whispered, “Porter?”

“Yeah?” His hug was fierce.

Warm.

Engulfing, in the very best way.

“You love me,” I said.

His chest rumbled. “More than I can fucking take, baby.”

“I think I love you too.”

“Of course you do. You trust me with your life—and you don’t trust anyone like that. Not completely.”

My eyes stung.

He was right; I didn’t trust anyone with all of my thoughts or feelings. Definitely not all of my emotions. I’d always felt like I had to take care of myself, like no one else would ever be there for me. My parents had ensured that.

But that had changed, if just a little.

Because I trusted Porter.

I trusted him completely.

“You shouldn’t have figured that out,” I finally said, leaning against him a little bit more.

He dragged his palm lightly over my back. “I can read your emotions through the bond. It makes it pretty easy.”

“Cheater.”

He chuckled. “I’m mated to a brilliant, gorgeous siren. I need some kind of advantage.” He kissed the top of my head. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah. How far are we?”

“A few hours out of Mistwood. This is my cabin. My family’s. I lived here, after I abandoned the pack.”

I looked at the building with new eyes. Eventually, I wanted to come back and see the place where he’d hidden away for so long, but today obviously wasn’t the day. “You didn’t abandon them. You left, because they didn’t fight for your family.”

“I should’ve stayed,” he said, lifting me off his lap and setting me down next to him. “I should’ve worked through my shit, and stayed.”

“Leave the past in the past. You did the best you could with what you knew and understood at the time. And hey, if you stayed, you wouldn’t have me.”

He started the truck and pulled away from the cabin, onto a well-worn dirt road. “I would’ve met you at Hale’s place and figured out a way to woo you.”

I rolled my eyes. “I wouldn’t have been wooed, and he wouldn’t have let you meet me. Bane is his friend, and he hasn’t met any of our sisters.”

“Bane doesn’t interact with unmated females, and has enough women to protect. He’s not interested. I would’ve been curious, and Hale would’ve eventually given in.”

“The less dark version of you would’ve liked Clementine more,” I countered. “Everyone likes Clem more. She’s cute and sweet and happy.”

Porter snorted. “As soon as I saw you with your sisters, I knew I wasn’t going to mate with anyone but you. If one of them had introduced themselves as my mate, I would’ve refused, and done whatever it took to convince you to take me. I’ve never been attracted to anyone the way I am to you.”

“Liar.”

“Check my emotions. I have no need to lie.”

Though I wanted to be confident enough not to do exactly that, I couldn’t help but tap in again.

Sure enough, there wasn’t a shred of dishonesty.

He’d been attracted to me, and only me, from the beginning.

That was a bit of a turn on.

It would’ve been a huge one, if not for the events of the day. Err, night? Time felt screwed up.

He pulled one of my legs over his knee, so it was draped over him as he dodged potholes and maneuvered dips in the road like a professional. One of his hands rested on it casually, his massive palm spread over my thigh.

He must’ve driven the same road a hundred times in the years he’d been gone. Maybe more.

“Do you miss living out here?” I asked him, watching the gorgeous scenery as we drove through.

“No. You know how dark my mind was—this place felt more like a prison than a sanctuary. It reminded me of what I’d lost, every time I opened my eyes.”

“And the Manor doesn’t?”

“In some ways, it does. But your mind is right up against mine in the pack’s link. Thanks to the bond, I’m mentally closer to you than I’ve ever been to anyone else. Having you close gives me a place to turn when I feel myself falling into the past again.”

The words made me warm.

I put my hand on his and squeezed lightly.

He lifted it to his lips and kissed my fingertips. “If I’d lost you, I would’ve razed the pack to the ground. They would’ve had to kill me to stop me.”

“The only person that wanted me dead was Corbin, and he seemed a little psychotic.”

Porter’s expression darkened. “He is. I should’ve hunted him for the way he abandoned my sister. I should’ve?—”

I squeezed his hand again. “It’s done. He’s gone, and he can’t hurt me or anyone else anymore.”

He gave a jerky nod. “I just wish it hadn’t come to this.”

“You’re not all-knowing, Porter. You can’t see the future or stop all of the bad things and people in the world.”

He grimaced, still holding my hand close to his lips. “I didn’t protect you any more than I protected them, Izzy.”

“Pull over.”

He didn’t listen.

“Pull over,” I repeated.

He reluctantly pulled off the road.

I climbed back onto his lap and put my hands on his face. He grabbed my waist lightly, his expression still dark.

“Look at me, Porter. I’m here. I’m healthy. I still feel like shit—but I’m going to be fine. You found me, and you got me out of there without letting anyone hurt me. And before you bring it up, the cut on my neck is barely a scratch.”

He scowled, but before he could argue, I continued.

“I never met your family, but I’ve seen the million pictures of them in our room. I can tell they loved you. I know you love them fiercely. And because of the stories you’ve shared, I feel like I know who they are. What I know of them makes me absolutely positive that if you could talk to them, they would tell you to stop blaming yourself. You didn’t abandon them—you were out of the city because you were helping another pack. Your dad was the one who sent you there. No one could’ve predicted what happened. It was not your fault.”

His eyes shone with unshed tears. “It’s so fucking unfair, Izzy.”

“I know.” I caught his single escaped tear with my thumb, wiping it away. “And I’m sorry. But you have to stop blaming yourself. They would want you to be happy, Porter.”

He closed his eyes and nodded, his body trembling slightly. “I know.”

I released his face and hugged him tightly as he shook against me. The emotions that crashed down on him were so intensely strong that I could feel them with my magic, even though I didn’t reach out.

“Tell me we’re going to be okay,” he said, his voice low and full of emotion.

“We’re going to be more than okay. We’re going to be powerfully, ridiculously happy. And when the moments of grief hit, we’re going to survive it until we feel okay again.”

He nodded against me. “I love you.”

“I know.”

An emotional laugh escaped him, and he hugged me tighter. “Fuck, I’m glad I forced you to marry me.”

I laughed. “You couldn’t have forced me if you tried. I picked you .”

“I don’t care. I’m just glad you’re mine.”

We stayed where we were until I finally convinced him to let me take the driver’s seat—and he held my thigh like it was his anchor all the way back to the pack’s land.