Page 60 of Claimed

“At the next moonrise,” he says. “And neither will be good company for some time. I will take them with me, in a transport you will ready for me. Am I understood?”

I bristle at being spoken to by him in such a way, but we cannot keep fighting. The vampire is family, just as he has claimed to be in one way or another all along. The war is over, and there have been losses on both sides. It is time to usher in peace, and suffer the pain that peace brings. We will have no more vengeance. The wounds inflicted will have to be endured and suffered and healed on our own. As for the evil he has been perpetrating on wolves, the experiments… we will have to enter into negotiations on that. Peace is not perfect. But sometimes, you take it, because it is the only way to keep what matters most.

CHAPTER 20

Alexei

“Are you angry with me?”

Anya asks the question in the morning, when we both wake after a very long night. I cannot believe we have both survived this long, and that I have the pleasure of feeling her in my arms. She is such a beautiful, precious creature, and I intend to choose her every day of my life—including the days where I have to deal with her.

“I’m not pleased with you,” I tell her. “I am not pleased with any of us, but yes, you are in trouble, if that is what you are asking. The display last night was reckless and could have—should have—gotten you killed.”

She looks at me with a certain guilty expression. “Well, everybody else was being killed. I thought I might join in.”

“Not funny, Anya.”

She giggles, probably to relieve the tension of the whole horrible affair. I know the memories of last night and the days and nights that have gone before will not soon fade. We will both be haunted by them for a very long time to come. I intend to ensure that better decisions are made in the future. There is a limit to how many funerals Anya and I can attend.

Anya’s laughter only increases under my strict stare.

“I’ve just realized something,” she giggles hysterically.

“And what is that?”

“We are so furious at him for killing two of our number, but when we were at his place, we killed everybody. He could have slaughtered the pack if he wanted. You know he could’ve. Everybody was at his mercy. But he killed Elena to heal, and he killed Vlad… maybe because he knew he’d taken his mate. Maybe it was an act of mercy.”

She wipes her eyes. “I don’t really think this is funny. It’s just, I don’t know that we’ve been any better than them.”

“Of course we have. We haven’t murdered half the countryside the way they have. We haven’t infected anybody’s mate’s mind and used her as a puppet. Yes, we have killed, but the ones who died when I was searching for you and where you were kept captive, they… well…”

“Exactly. We’re as bad as each other. We’re all monsters, doing monstrous things, and having the nerve to be offended when there are consequences for our… monstrosities.” She snorts. “And it turns out my dad was part vampire to begin with, or at least slightly cursed. Isn’t this all just so stupid?”

“All wars have some element of stupidity to them,” I tell her. “There’s not a conflict on this earth that ends in violence that could not and should not have been solved with diplomacy. Now come here and put yourself over my knee.”

Anya pouts at me prettily. “Can’t we solve this with diplomacy?”

She is in good spirits and using my words against me. Her mood elevates mine, and reminds me that this is indeed, over. Peace is going to reign from here on out. There will be no more vampire attacks, and there will certainly be no more reason to go hunting the fanged things.

I tap my thigh. “Come here, little girl.”

She blushes brightly. “You’ve never called me that before. Well. Except for the time you called me spoiled. But I guess that was different.”

“Spoiled or not, you’re my little girl, that’s what you are. Now, come here.”

She is still so sweet, even after all that has happened. I am having a very hard time getting the vision of her hanging off the vampire’s throat out of my mind, the sheer terror I felt when I realized she was absolutely out of control.

“From now on, I need you to obey me,” I tell her. “I know that’s asking a lot of you, probably too much, but all of this trouble has been made worse in one way or another by your many acts of disobedience. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” she squeaks. “I understand.”

She’s not trying to argue. How could she? She has had all the same experiences I have. She knows what a bad girl she has been. And she knows what is going to happen as a result.

“Get out of bed and strip,” I order her. “Your ass is going to pay for this.”

She does as she is told, looking at me under her lashes with a certain kind of shyness as she sheds her lacy night dress. She has a beautiful body, and of course I become aroused at the sight of it. I don’t know that she’s going to enjoy my erection as much as she usually does.

She expects me to spank her, but we’re past spanking. Even a good, long, hard spanking is not enough, and I’m not of the mind or mood to beat my mate. There are other ways to teach a wayward she-wolf a lesson.

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