Midnight Moonrising (Moonrising #2)(111)

Phoenix huffed as his eyes closed. "You can't challenge Ace, Rhodes. He's a lion. Only another lion can challenge him and become Alpha if they win, not a shifter of another species. You can only challenge Alpha werewolves."

"What?" Alex said.

Roel shook his head. "Put the guns down, Cop. Phoenix is right."

Alex hesitated a moment, and then his hands fell to his sides as he shook his head. "I can't let her go."

"You have to," Brad said. "It's the only way to save everyone. The girl you love doesn't exist anymore, dude."

"You got some balls, man," Ace snapped. "You're lucky I don't kill you for pulling some shit like that on me."

"I thought—" Alex started.

Ace glared at him. "I know damn well what you thought." He turned to look at the red-haired woman beside him, then nodded for his pride to lower their weapons. "Let's get this bonding over with so we can get the hell out of here," he said, and then started for the door, bumping Alex's shoulder roughly with his as he went by him.





Chapter 55



Ace





Stopping outside the door of Phoenix's chamber, he tried to calm down, but the longer he thought about what had almost happened, the more he wanted to kill that f*cking wolf.

Deciding that bonding with his Alpha and taking her away from him for good would be a worse punishment than killing the poor bastard, Ace met the master vampire's eyes when he walked out into the corridor. "Lead the way. I'll be gone before nightfall."

"I apologize—" Phoenix started, but Ace held up his hand to stop him.

"Where is she?"

Phoenix nodded once, and then led the way down the long hallway. Ace's pride fell into step behind him, and the others in Mena's pack and the other vampire followed after them.

Phoenix stopped before a door then turned to look at Ace before opening it. "How are you going to do this?"

Ace shrugged. "I've never bonded with anyone. The Alpha in me will know what to do once I get near her."

"Can we watch?" Heath said.


Ace shrugged again, and then reached out for the door handle. "Do what you want, just don't try to stop anything from happening once I get in there with her. It may get rough. I'll have to mind-rape her in order for my soul to connect with hers. I'm guessing she won't consent to this on her own. If Mena has any control over her at all, maybe she can hold her back until I get in."

Ace pushed his way into the holding room, and instantly felt the power wash over him from the other Alpha. He immediately felt drawn to her, nothing he had ever experienced before with any other Alphas.

He walked slowly toward the cell holding her, his amber eyes locking on a pair of silver wolf eyes. She bared her teeth and let out a low growl. He could still refuse to do this; nobody was forcing him to save her. He could kill her instead. Of course, he wouldn't be able to take over her pack. The remaining survivors would have to fight over the position of Alpha, since two vampires and three of her pack would take their last breath the same time she did. That was something he'd found out all on his own before coming here, but after that stunt Peanut had just tried to pull, he was almost determined to make sure they all died.

He contemplated his options as he ripped off his sneakers and pulled the t-shirt over his head. Taking in a deep breath and letting it out in a rush, he unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans then pushed them to his ankles.

Stepping out of the denim, he turned and gave a nod toward the cage door. "Let's do this."

Phoenix pushed the silver key in the lock and turned it. He met the wolf's eyes, and whispered, "Come back to me, Mena." He pulled the door open, and the wolf lunged for the opening, but Ace was quick to shift, and his lion form knocked her back inside, rolling over the cement flooring with her until they reached the other side and the door was secure again.

Her claws and teeth sank into his flesh, but the adrenaline pumping through his system blocked any pain he may have felt otherwise. He knocked her off him and they began to circle each other.

As if his soul knew the reason he was here, a heavy pressure settled in the center of his chest, and then began to burn unnaturally.

"Let me in, bitch! This shit's starting to hurt."

She jumped on him, knocking him off balance, but his paws clung to her back and he rolled them across the floor again, stopping with her on the bottom. His jowls parted and his teeth clamped down on her throat, causing her to howl in pain.

Ace vaguely heard screams from the others, but he knew he had to keep his full attention on her; getting distracted could cost him his life, and that wasn't something he was willing to give up for anything or anyone.

She squirmed under him, still trying to fight him off, but he could tell she was growing weaker. His jaw clamped down tighter, and he finally forced his way into her mind. The bonding had started. His soul had found hers. He was in.

Images of Mena's past flashed through his mind so fast that he couldn't tell when one ended and another started, but he saw them all, every memory, all the heartache and happiness the human had endured in her short life, and he knew that she was experiencing the same from him.

The feeling was surreal and unexplainable, but it felt right; he felt her power and his collide and weld together, infusing and tangling until it was one solid unbreakable force. As if two worlds collided, wolf and lion, their auras joined, co-mingled, until they blended together to form one entity.