Toeing off her glass heels, she bit her lower lip wondering what he was going to do next. She didn’t need to wait long when he gripped her arms and hauled her out of the Viper.

Zak was not very gentle when he simply gripped one arm and hauled her after him toward the tower.

She could barely keep up with his long strides, and by the time they dropped into a damp hole in the ground and made their way up into her old tower room, she was sobbing.

He pushed a door she never knew existed in her tower, marched her to the middle of her old room, and released her.

With a wave of his hand, her night lamps began to glow. Everything was exactly as she remembered; her lifeless dolls lounging about, her bed still rumpled and darkness looming in the corners.

The room was cold, dingy, everything in it old and shoddy.

He stared down at her. “This is where I say good-bye, Alluna… forever.”

Tears poured down her face as she stared at him. He towered above her, his heat beckoning her body to seek solace in his arms.

He swallowed, his eyes going over every feature of her face. His hand began to lift and Alluna closed her eyes in anticipation of the caress. It never came. He cursed instead making her snap her eyes open once more. Closing his eyes as though in pain, he spun on his heel and stalked away.

Alluna’s knees gave way beneath her. She crumpled into a hysterical heap on her frayed rug, her cries of despair bouncing off the walls.

Never again would she know the sweetness of warm arms comforting her, of gentle hands feeding her… loving her.

“Zak,” she wailed. “Please. I’m sorry.”

His heart was breaking as he turned to leave. It would never heal. He could never leave her either, but she didn’t want to be with him and he wouldn’t force her to be his. He would shift, as much as it terrified him, lose himself in his beastly side and remain near the tower… protecting her for eternity if that’s what it took to keep her safe. He would kill anyone who came to hurt her.

“Zak. Please. I’m sorry.”

It was as though a chain tied around his heart had been jerked back. Alluna held that chain and it was Zak who was her slave, not the other way around.

He couldn’t seem to get enough breath into his lungs as he turned slowly to the mistress of his heart and soul. How the hell had he fallen so deeply with the little female? She’d truly cast a spell on him. Seth was right, after all. The love he felt for Alluna was unnatural… and right now, he really didn’t give a fuck about that. He felt whole for the first time in his life and he didn’t want that feeling to ever go away.

Hungry for the feel of her, Zak rushed to where she laid sobbing on the floor. He stopped himself before touching her. If she was to be his, then she had to willingly submit to him.

“I will not be called master by a female that is not willing to submit to me totally and unconditionally.”

She didn’t even bother to look up. Alluna simply reached out, gripped his legs with both arms, and hung on for dear life.

He let her cry, aching inside to comfort her, but they both needed to establish some rules if they were to continue forward.

She continued to sob, her face pressed to his thighs. Eventually she began to calm and press kisses against the leather of his pants. Zak placed his palm on her head and caressed her hair.

“Alluna, more than anything I want to be your master, but not unless you’re willing to submit to me.”

“Yes,” she shuddered hugging him tighter. “Yes-yes, please. Just don’t abandon me.”

“Alluna, the cap Remi put on you let you know exactly who and what I am.” He needed her to understand before she committed. “I’m one of the seven Alpha Angels. There are those that think I’m a demon. I’m also part…” He took a deep breath and plunged on, defiantly. “I’m a weredragon, and I’m also into dominance and submission. If you submit to me you’ll do so knowing that… I can be damn bossy most times. Can you live with that, Alluna?”

She let out a shuddering sob, her hands sliding against his thighs in a caress. “Yes, Zak. Yes.”

Unable to help himself any longer, he reached down and hauled her up against him.

Swinging her up in his arms, he strode to the bed.

“Release me,” he said once he laid her down.

Although she whimpered, she obeyed.

Zak concentrated on her dress and teleported it off her body.

Grabbing one of the rumpled sheets, he tore a long strip. “Put your hands above your head and grip the bars on the headboard.” Her naked body trembled, but she obeyed. Zak quickly tied her wrists and hands to the metal bars of her bed. He then ripped more strips from the sheet and tied each ankle spread-eagled to the lower bedposts.

Zak stood at the foot of the bed, staring at his handiwork.

Every breath she took pushed her breasts up, her nipples pearled tight. Her belly dipped in just before rounding up to the bare mound of her sex. His eyes locked on her glistening slit, deep strawberry colored and open like an exotic flower. His mouth watered as his cock throbbed in anticipation.

Tonight he would take her, no more would she be a virgin. Alluna would lose her innocence in the very bed she’d slept in as a child, surrounded by her dolls.

Zak pulled his vest off and let her look her fill as he began unbuckling his pants. Pride filled him as the scent of her aroused flesh became stronger. Her eyes trailed down the length of him, stopping on the bulge in his pants. Her teeth dented her luscious lower lip and her gulp was plainly audible. A nervous virgin.

'As she ought to be,' he mused knowing how big he was, but he was determined to make it good for her.

“Are you mine to do with as I please, Alluna?”

“Yes,” she whispered, her lower lip quivering.

He continued to remove his pants. “Are you going to be an obedient little girl? And if not, will you take any punishment I deem fit for you?”

“Yes.”

He stroked her legs. “Do you give yourself to me, Alluna? Completely?”

She closed her eyes on a sob. “Yes.”

Elation shot through him, but he kept a tight rein on his emotions. The sight of her body tied helpless had him about to shoot untouched, which was why he needed her to lose control before he did.

“Fine,” he said crawling onto the bed over her. ”From this second onward consider yourself owned… by me.”

Alluna shuddered at his words. He had her caged beneath him, her body bound and spread for his pleasure. She knew what was coming, her innocence gone from the moment Remien Fyre placed that strange silver hood on her head.

Zak had stripped down to his skin, his erection bobbing against his abs. He leaned down and bit her lips when she’d expected a kiss. The snarl that tore from his throat wasn’t human, nor the glow in his eyes. For a moment she thought she saw his irises grow, filling the whites of his eyes with fiery blue, but he blinked and it was gone. The heavy braid he’d woven his hair into slid off his back and landed with a thud on the mattress beside her.

Zak bent his head and licked her nipples, making her gasp when she felt each lap send little quivers of ecstasy low into her belly. She jerked with a cry when he bit the tips none too gently. Again, he growled.

The mixture of fear and excitement had her trembling.

'Don’t fear me,' he whispered into her mind.

She couldn’t help herself. Alluna didn’t fear him, rather she was just jittery about having sex for the first time.

Zak rose up level with her face once more.

“Alluna,” he whispered, one finger stroking down her cheek gently.

Her hands and feet were suddenly free. She looked up at him in confusion.

“I want this to be special,” he sighed kissing her softly.

“It already is, master.”

Zak shook his head. “Only when we play will you call me master. This is not a moment for play, Alluna. This is the moment when I turn you fully into a woman, because I will not stop until I cum deep inside you.”

“W-will it hurt?”

“Only a little at first. Arborian females aren’t like Edenian females. You have no hymen, but I still need to stretch you open and that might take a little getting used to for you.”

Alluna gasped when he reached down and inserted one finger into her.

“You’re so wet already, I’m sure you can take me.”

He continued to thrust his finger into her, and then he added another. It felt so good. Alluna sighed and bucked her hips to meet every thrust.

“That’s right, baby.”

She open her thighs further, feeling elated when he smiled his approval.

But she needed more.

Reaching up, she gripped the metal bars again. Zak used his free hand to grip her wrists, locking them firmly in his hold. He stopped teasing between her legs to put his finger beneath his nose. Alluna smelled the scent of her own juices coating his thick digits. Zak kept his eyes on hers as he stuck his fingers into his mouth and sucked her honey off. This time, she saw his irises widen. Not just the pupils, but the entire colored part of his eyes and a growl erupted from his throat.

He popped his fingers from his mouth and rolled his shoulders, frowning a bit. The heat rolling off his body made her break out in a fine sheen of sweat.

He dipped his head and lapped at her tight little nipples.

Alluna writhed and whimpered beneath him.

“Oh, please, Zak,” she panted. “I feel so empty.” As if to demonstrate what she wanted, she gripped his hips between her thighs and bucked against him.

Zak growled and gripped her hip with one hand. Alluna groaned when he rubbed his shaft against her.

“Fuck me, please,” she begged shamelessly.

Zak’s eyes widened a bit in surprise at her throaty demand, but then he shifted his hips and let his arousal slide through her heat, wetting himself with her honey.

Alluna moaned in response, and then gasped when he began breaching her tight opening.

It burned, making her wince. She cried out in surprise and arched her back to buck him off.

“No you don’t, my sweet virgin. You begged me to fuck you, you take it now.”

“Zak,” she keened when he pressed in further.

Deeper and deeper he sank, splitting her in two.

“Please, I can’t.”

He gentled her with kisses. “Yes you can, baby. Just a little more, I promise. It’ll hurt for only a little while more.”

He was thick, which Alluna already had known, but he was also long and that made the penetration more agonizing.

“Just relax, baby. Don’t fight it.”

Alluna forced her muscles to relax although it literally felt like he was splitting her open with his cock. He slid inexorably deeper, until his pelvis ground against hers.

Zak still held her wrists as he rained soft kisses all over her face. She panted through the discomfort, grateful he held perfectly still to allow her to adjust to the feel of him embedded deep within her.

“Now you really are mine, Alluna,” he whispered.

She felt filled to bursting. He kept his weight off her on his forearms and legs. Once the initial sting of his possession ebbed, she wiggled her hips experimentally. They both groaned in unison.

Zak lifted his hips, pulling back before slowly pushing back in. Alluna clenched her teeth at the bite of pain. Zak thrust slowly a few times.

“Fuck, you’re so tight,” he hissed. “I’m in heaven, baby.”

Alluna arched, the feel of him beginning to feel good sliding in and out of her. She whimpered and he answered with a growl.

“Oh, yesss,” she hissed when he quickened his pace.

Zak released her hands and gripped her waist with both hands.

He snarled, his thrusts picking up momentum. Alluna snapped her hips sharply against his, spreading her legs, inviting him deeper. Already she could feel the crown of his cock kissing the entrance to her womb. The pleasure was a fire coursing through her, stemming from the man pinning her down to the bed.

If mama saw her now, letting the golden-haired angel rut her like a beast…

The thought had her climaxing beneath him, crying out his name in helpless surrender. Above her, she heard him groan, jerking deep inside her while he crushed his pelvic bone against hers. Zak collapsed his sweating body atop hers.

She couldn’t breathe, still he allowed her to feel his weight and know the strength of the male that owned her now. Alluna was his.

He tried to make love to her this first time, but his dominant nature always kicked in sooner or later. He was only sorry he’d shot his load before he’d wanted to, but when the girl came, she’d clenched around him so hard his eyes had crossed. It was either shoot or implode.

He rolled off his poor girl onto the bed that creaked and squeaked under his weight. He wanted to take her back to Alpha 7, but not before he drenched her room and bed in their combined scents. He wanted the bitch that had locked Alluna all her life in a tower to know that the girl now had a protector.

He hoped his scent was well embedded in the entire room. Just to be sure, he took up what was left of the sheet he had ripped and turned to wipe the blood and semen from Alluna’s well loved sex. She shivered with a whimper and curled into his side.

Zak tucked his arm around her and brushed a kiss to her temple as he wiped the remnants of their love making off his still erect cock. It would take a few more ejaculations to get it down, but for now, he’d let her rest. He didn’t want to tear her or make her too sore. Eventually he’d get her used to his pace of fucking… as well as other things.

The sound of her soft snores made him raise his brows. He turned to look at her with a smile. He brushed away a lock of hair stuck to the tear tracks on her cheeks and sighed. It wasn’t safe to stay too long. He sensed danger and he didn’t have the protection of having the others there with him. They were already urging him to return home. Devon was unhappy he’d returned to Arboria. Seth was livid. Annie was nervous. Even Remi felt uneasy and was already sitting in his Viper getting ready to zip there.

Zak rolled his eyes with a laugh, but he understood their concern.

Rising from the bed, he used his powers to teleport all of their clothes back to the Viper. He lifted Alluna into his arms, grateful she was in a deep sleep and teleported them also.

The entire trip back to the space station he just held her in his arms, his happiness complete.

Alluna snuggled against the heat that seemed to emanated from beneath her. Her fingers pressed against a taut mound of flesh and it flexed.

She blinked her eyes open, lifting her head as her fuzzy mind began to awaken.

Her entire body was rising and falling softly, and she realized it was because she was lying on Zak.

Looking around in alarm, she breathed out a sigh of relief when she realized they were back in his room in the space station. Everything was dark except for the silvery glow of the stars showcased in the glass wall fifteen paces from the foot of the bed.

Zak was asleep, but she felt his arousal resting between her spread thighs, draped to either side of his. His lips were parted, his breath sighing in and out. Thick lashes rested against his cheeks looking almost black in the darkness.

Alluna sighed and kissed his chest, her mind replaying their lovemaking. She felt his cock leap and bump her making her smile at first and then frown.

Her mind rifled through the random information she’d been pumped with. Edenian males were supposed to lose their erections after ejaculation. It signaled they had satisfied their sexual urges.

Alluna moved her hips experimentally. Yes. Zak definitely still had a hard-on.

Insecurity assailed her. She hadn’t satisfied him. Memories of what she’d seen on the screens of the place they had visited filled her mind; Zak surrounded by many females in an all out orgy. These females had experience and were exotic. Alluna had just had her first fuck and felt as plain as a weed in a flower garden compared to the other females Zak had shared sex with.

Carefully, she slid off him. The cool sheet covering them billowed slightly and then draped his distended flesh, making it even more noticeable. Slowly she pulled the golden satin sheet down, exposing his glorious body.

Her eyes traced every bulge and dip, acknowledging that he truly had the body of a god. His pulse fluttered at his throat as his chest rose and fell with every breath. Zak’s cock pointed straight up.

Alluna stared at it for long moments, remembering how good it had felt thrusting into her. How she ever managed to take it in completely befuddled her but take it all she had.

So have many others— she thought with despair. Jealousy tasted bitter in her mouth as her mind replayed the scene of the two females taking turns to suck the flesh standing at attention before her now.

She had two options. She could either sulk, cry and whine about it, or she could do her best to please him.

The feel of a soft mouth sucking shyly at his tender flesh had Zak’s hands shooting out to grip the insolent female’s head and slam her down on him to teach her a lesson.

His hands froze when he felt the silken texture of her hair and his brain finally woke up. Alluna. She was his…and he was hers. Alluna had every right to seek to pleasure him.

Zak groaned when her little hand fisted the root of his cock. He let go of her head and fisted the sheets in agony, fighting the urge to pump wildly into her mouth.

She crawled between his legs and he accommodated by spreading them wider. Fire spread down his back as he forced himself to watch her. Alluna locked her gaze with his as she slid her tongue up the length of his dick, her golden eyes dark with lust. Her hair had cascaded down around her shoulders and it was tickling his thighs, giving him even more stimulation. He bit back a snarl when she wrapped her lips around his cock again. Zak winced, his mouth opening on a silent scream when Alluna gripped his balls with her free hand.

'Oh. Fuck. Me,' he thought with a shudder. 'I’m going to cum. Fuck-fuck-fuck. Mustn’t-musn’t. Not yet.'

He clenched his teeth, a growl rumbling in his chest as she sucked hard on the upstroke and moaned when she slid her lips back down. Her little moan had a jolt of pleasure shoot through his shaft so hard he clenched his fingers into the sheets tighter and heard fabric tear.

Zak dropped his head back, unable to look anymore. She grew bolder, devouring his prick like she was starving for it. One hand caressed his stiff balls, the other stroked up and down the lower half of his cock.

It was when she suddenly slid all the way down his cock, her lips touching the root, did he shoot…hard and fast with a roar.

Everything glowed, ghostly fire flowing from his body as wave after wave of ecstasy stole his precious control from him.

Before he’d spurted his last, he felt her wince and jolt away from him. With the last shred of logical thought still left in him, he sent the energy emanating from him out.

Zak shuddered and panted in the aftermath, feeling only a twinge of guilt when his ears picked up the fire alarms. Vaguely, he wondered what part of Alpha 7 he’d set afire this time. A few seconds later, the alarms shut off. The space station’s emergency systems had everything under control.

With a sigh, he glanced down at Alluna and frowned when he saw her huddled against the glass wall in front of the bed.

Zak began to sit up to ask her what was wrong. He felt the drag on his back and turned horrified eyes to stare… at a pair of golden dragon’s wings attached to his back.

Chapter Ten

The second Alluna had felt his erupting cock start to swell she’d reared back. Spurts of cum bathed her face, her breasts, and she had to wipe the hot, milky fluid from her eyes and back away some more.

The satin sheets were torn, fluff from the mattress peeking through, but that wasn’t what had her eyes popping open as her jaw dropped. Zak’s skin looked as though it were made of gold and his cock had swelled as thick as her arm. The head was different too. It ended in a point rather than the rounded form it had before. His hands twitched and she also noted that he had claws and his skin was beginning to look scaly. The sheets moved, drawing her attention.

Alluna dashed in terror to the glass wall and curled into a ball. The sheets weren’t moving at all. What was spreading out beneath Zak’s arching back were a pair of enormous wings that weren’t exactly angelic looking.

She stared at him, huddled against the wall. A high pitched screeching sound blared, making her pulse soar. When it suddenly cut off, it left her ears ringing.

Zak’s panting was loud now that the alarm deactivated. She watched as his cock shrank back down to normal, though it still remained pointing straight up.

Zak struggled to sit up, the golden wings at his back twitching awkwardly, and then he froze.

Alluna bit her lower lip when she saw the look of terror in his eyes. He turned his head and stared at his wings as if he’d never seen them before. Zak looked more horrified than she felt.

He began to pant again. He yanked the sheets off his legs and stared down at his body and then his hands. Everything was back to normal except...

Her heart leapt into her throat when he suddenly cried out in agony. The wings glowed, shriveled, and seemed to pull into his back. Zak lifted his fists, his face contorted in pain and then he fell forward, bending from the waist.

Two red slashes marred his once perfect skin, but as Alluna approached him tentatively, they began to fade.

She crawled back onto the bed, between his legs and laid her palm on his hot flesh. Zak snapped back up into a sitting position, startling her.

They stared at each other for long moments until he finally spoke.

“I wouldn’t blame you if you fear me now.”

“You… you were shifting into a dragon?”

He shuddered. “I guess.” Zak continued to stare at her with haunted eyes. “I’ve only shifted completely once in my life and it happened accidentally.”

It surprised her to hear him say that. For some reason she thought he shifted into his dragon self regularly.

Zak rose from the bed in agitation. Alluna watched him begin to pace at the foot of the bed, the long braid on his back swaying enticingly against the swell of his backside.

Alluna didn’t care if he became angry with her. She dashed out of the bed and clung to him, stilling him in his tracks. His scent and warmth permeated her as her arms squeezed around his waist tighter.

Zak wrapped his arms around her and she felt him brush a kiss to the crown of her head.

“I’m making you more nervous.” His hand smoothed over her back, the other caressing the back of her head. “I could never hurt you, Alluna. Please believe me.”

She nodded and burrowed deeper into his chest, the fear that somehow mama would find them still haunting her.

A wave of dizziness swept over her and she opened her eyes to see the blue ray of the hygiene machine flowing over them. Zak had teleported them into the hygiene room.

“Alluna, why do you doubt your ability to satisfy me?”

The question took her by surprise.

“I felt your self-doubt as I slept. Why, Alluna?”

Zak stared down at her cute little face peering up at him from under thick black lashes. Her arms were wrapped so tight around him, like she expected him to disappear at any moment.

The truth was, his midshift a moment ago had left him shaken, and he needed to talk to Remi about it. Zak didn’t know or understand what the hell was happening to him.

“Alluna,” he sighed. “I’m waiting.”

“You’re still hard. Edenian males are supposed to grow soft when they’re satisfied.”

Zak threaded his fingers in her silky hair. With her head tilted up to him the glossy strands fell to the middle of her ass.

“Baby, I’m still hard because I still want to be inside you, but we need to go slow. I don’t want to hurt you.” She blinked and he saw the understanding sink in. Still, he felt the niggling doubt in her mind.

There was more to his reluctance to bed her again. He needed to talk to Remi. What if he’d shifted completely while embedded within her? He would have killed her. This had never happened to him before and he felt confused and fearful. “You’re tired, Alluna,” he whispered to her, using his mind to push the suggestion deeper into her subconscious.

She pulled one arm from around him to rub her eyes with a yawn. He scooped her up and carried her back to bed.

Sleep, Alluna. You’ve had a long day, you’re tired. You want to sleep… and dream of us.

He kissed her lips as he placed her down and pulled the rumpled sheets over her.

She yawned again and turned to her side, clutching the pillow to burrow into it. Zak’s chest squeezed when her eyes fluttered shut and she whispered, “nightie-night, beautiful angel.”

He took a deep breath and fire and cinnamon teased his nostrils.

“She’s your One, Zak.”

Zak turned, summoning a pair of his lounging pants on himself, and began walking toward his living room. He thought about Remi’s words and wondered if maybe that was why it was becoming more difficult to tamp down his beastly side.

He settled down on his couch as Remi walked over to his liquor cabinet and poured a drink into a glass. Zak sighed watching the red-haired weredragon pad to him, glass in one hand and bottle of Black Death whiskey in the other.

He plunked down next to Zak and offered him the glass.

“Aren’t you drinking?” Zak asked accepting the glass.

Remi’s answer was to put the bottle to his mouth and tip his head back. His throat moved as he chugged down Zak’s favorite whiskey.

“Gimme that, you idiot,” he snorted yanking the bottle from Remi’s hand. “It’s getting harder and harder to find this stuff.”

He passed Remi the glass and took up chugging from the bottle himself.

He felt Rem’s eyes on him as the fiery liquid slid down his throat.

The scents in the air around him changed. Before he lowered the bottle and opened his eyes, he already knew the rest of the Alpha Angels sat with him in his living room.

“What is this,” Zak said in his deep voice, “a fucking intervention?”

Remi snickered.

“We’re worried about this while situation, Goliath,” Annie spoke up first. She sat at his feet and gripped his free hand to brush a soft kiss to it.

Zak smiled at her, despite himself.

“We know you don’t want to,” Devon, who sat right next to him, followed next, “but you really need to shift.”

Zak stiffened. Remi, who had already downed the glass of whiskey reached for the bottle, but Zak frowned and held it out of his grasp. Devon took it.

“Thanks,” he grinned before taking a long swig.

“Hey leave some for me,” Anniel protested to Zak’s dismay.

“Geez. Why don’t you people bring your own liquor?”

“Cause you’ve got the good stuff,” Seth said reaching for the bottle after Anniel.

Zak crossed his arms over his chest and glared at them. “I refuse to shift. I don’t need to.”

Remi cleared his throat. “I beg to differ.”

“Nobody asked you.” Zak growled. Of course Remi would differ. He was a weredragon.

“Zak,” Devon began. “You’re a golden dragon. You can’t deny half your nature.”

Zak shook his head. “The only time I ever shifted fully...“

“Wait a minute,” Devon interrupted. “You’ve shifted into full dragon twice, Zak.”

Zak frowned looking at him in confusion.

“When we were on Arboria, the time Seth was taken, we were attacked by a horde of devils.”

The memory came back to Zak. They had all held each other in an embrace when he’d felt Devon stiffen next to him.

“They’re here,” he had snarled and Zak remembered turning to the sight of devil’s pouring out from the forest that surrounded a wide glen they were in. Even though there were hundreds of other Master Guardians with them, the devils looked like they numbered in the thousands.

They were attacked by land and by air.

Zak had pulled his sword out and ran to meet the wave of devils head on. Using a firearm on the creatures was futile since they absorbed energy put out by weapons like candy. As for his power, the most he could do was keep a bubble of protection around him so they wouldn’t over power him.

He hacked and swung at every devil that flew at him. Blood sprayed everywhere and the earsplitting screeches of the creatures made his ears ring. They looked almost human, their bodies perfectly formed, both male and female…and that was where he ran into trouble. He kept pushing the females away, unable to find it in him to hurt one. Now five surrounded him, their perfect little breasts heaving with every breath they took. Tails swished at their backs and bright white fangs gleamed in their snarling mouths. Catlike eyes watched, and they suddenly seemed to understand all at once… Zak refused to kill them.

More circled, hissing, laughing, and then they attacked. Zak remembered the agony of being stabbed everywhere with their sharp tails. He roared, his body feeling as though it had ignited into a ball of fiery pain. Teeth sank into his thigh, and then everything went black.

“You began to shift, Zak.” Devon continued. “When one of them wrapped a tail around you and took you up it literally saved hundreds of lives because you shifted as it took to the sky with you.”

Zak couldn’t remember. All he remembered was fighting and then…staring into Alluna’s eyes in the tower room.

“Rowie arrives tomorrow. After training, you can try to shift. We’ll be there with you if anything goes wrong, but you’ve got to do it.” Devon’s voice brooked no argument.

“I hate not feeling in control,” Zak admitted to them.

“It’ll be a good exercise in control, Zak-o,” Remi nodded. “The more you shift, the more your human side will awaken in your dragon. My dragon recognizes all of you now, and it recognizes Rowie as mistress.”

Zak bowed his head. After a long pause, he let out his pent up breath. “Alright… I’ll try. Time to stop being a coward, right?”

Annie jumped into his lap and hugged him. He felt the others converge and wrap their arms around him as well.

Remi planted a big kiss in the middle of his forehead, making Zak grimace. “What would you do without us, eh, Zak-o?”

Zak snorted. “I’d have more liquor,” he replied eyeing the empty bottle of Black Death by the fire.

They began to laugh.

Alluna found herself back in the beautiful meadow, humming the Dragon’s Lullaby. The sun heated the crown of her head as she shaded her eyes and searched the heavens. Pale-pink clouds drifted lazily in the bright lavender Arborian sky. The gentle breeze had the trees dancing slowly, their dark emerald leaves whispering amongst themselves. A dark shadow crossed in front of the sun and Alluna squinted to see if perhaps it was her angel. Another scent teased her nose and she heard the tall blades of grass behind her rustle.

She turned, her heart thudding with excitement, only to have her smile freeze on her face.

The breeze shifted through the blond strands of the male’s hair…a thousand shades of gold in the sunlight. His eyes were catlike, a pale shade of blue-grey with hints of green over a small nose and lush mouth. He watched her intently, and although his allure was stunning, there was something decidedly disturbing about him.

He stepped closer and Alluna saw the scars covering his body. Muscles rippled, still he looked like he didn’t eat properly.

“Who are you?” she whispered.

He cocked his head to the side and after a brief pause, held out his hand.

Alluna recoiled, taking a step back. He smiled and suddenly wings opened up behind him… big, bright, red devil’s wings.

With a gasp, she startled awake. Slowly, the lights in the bedchamber brightened and she caught sight of Remien materializing next to the bed in a flash of red-gold fire.

“Mornin’, gorgeous,” he grinned, plunking down on the edge of the bed.

Alluna realized in mortification that she was completely naked, and gave a little squeak of dismay as she burrowed under Zak.

Zak, grumbled and rolled over, blanketing her completely with his enormous body.

“Give us a moment, Rem,” he said in a sleep-thickened voice.

Alluna’s eyes widened when he moved one knee to the outside of her legs trapping her between his powerful thighs. The heat of his morning erection warmed her belly. He nuzzled her neck, pressing little kisses from her ear to her collarbone.

“Don’t tell me she’s afraid of me,” Remi said incredulously. “Alluna?”

She burrowed deeper into Zak’s arms, shame heating her cheeks at Remi seeing her ugly chest.

Zak stiffened and rose to look into her eyes.

Alluna tried to cover her breasts, but he sat up and held her hands to her sides.

“What was that thought?” he asked, eyes flashing now.

Both men frowned at her, still Alluna struggled to free her wrists to cover her chest.

“I told you it was normal for your breasts to be the way they are.”

“What’s wrong with her breasts?” Remi asked.

Alluna looked pleadingly at Zak, but he only scowled more.

“I don’t want you to be ashamed of your body, Alluna. I think it would be a good idea to let you have breakfast wearing nothing but your skin today.”

Well, that wasn’t too bad. Her eyes slanted to Remi who still looked perplexed. As long as they were alone, she didn’t mind being naked with Zak.

Zak began to chuckle.

Alluna scowled at Zak’s smug grin and tugged at the cuffs holding her wrists behind her back. He’d teleported them into Alpha 7’s dining room and sat her on one of the tables. The cool surface of the glossy black table made bumps raise on her skin.

“I found them,” Remi exclaimed popping in next to Zak, the curls of red-gold fire making her jump.

He placed something that jingled into Zak’s palm.

Alluna glared at Remi’s grinning face until he pouted.

“My breasts are pretty,” she snapped and then growled. How dare Zak spell her mouth to spout nothing but that ridiculous statement every time she tried to say something.

Remi’s eyes dropped down to her bare breasts with a smirk. “Yes they are, Alluna. I brought Zak something pretty to put on them.”

She shook her head, her mind remembering the painful looking nipple clamps from her visions.

Zak’s hot mouth covered one of her nipples and he began to suck…hard. Alluna gasped and arched, feeling each insistent tug zip between her legs.

Alluna moaned.

“Why don’t you people get a room,” Seth’s voice growled making Alluna start.

Her cheeks flamed as she watched him stroll to one of the walls and press a silver button.

Alluna opened her mouth, but Zak transferred his lips and tongue to attack the other nipple and she gave a keening cry.

Seth seemed to stare mesmerized for a moment, the pupils in his beautiful pale blue eyes widening.

“Steak, he whispered.”

Alluna moved her lips, wanting to beg Zak to teleport them back to the privacy of his rooms. “My breasts are pretty!”

Remi snickered and Seth’s mouth went slack.

Zak pulled away from her. “Nice,” he growled.

Alluna looked down to see her nipples standing erect, red, wet, and tight.

Zak placed a metallic disk over the tip. It was an intricately woven piece of silver, with a tiny hole in the middle through which Zak pulled the distended tip of her nipple. He repeated the same thing with her other nipple.

The other two males approached, their eyes on her chest. Alluna pulled at her hands again, instinctively trying to cover up. She whimpered.

“My breasts are pretty,” she wailed at Zak.

His answer was to fall to his knees and pull her ass to the edge of the table.

Remi barked out a laugh when Zak proceeded to bury his face between Alluna’s legs. The feel of his tongue delving deep into her had her bucking her hips involuntarily.

“What going on here?”

Alluna closed her eyes in embarrassment when she heard their commander’s voice.

“Zak is having breakfast,” Seth growled.

“My breasts are pretty,” she wailed.

The sound of male chuckling had her gritting her teeth.

“Zak,” a feminine voice admonished, “What did you do to her?”

Zak stopped feasting on her long enough to look up into Alluna’s eyes. The blue sparkled like fire, and, again, they looked bigger than normal, almost filling the white area. His lips glistened with her honey and his breath fanned hot between her spread thighs.

“Alluna has no idea how fucking gorgeous she is. When she decides to let something positive spill from her pretty mouth she’ll be able to break the spell.”

Zak remained staring up at her, the feel of his breath so close making her want to writhe. She bit her lip, wanting desperately to scream at him to lick her again, but remembered the presence of the others.

Looking around, she saw Devon had also placed Angel on the table and pulled her filmy white dress to her hips, his mouth latched onto one of her nipples. She fisted his long jet locks and arched into his face with a rapturous sigh. Angel obviously didn’t mind allowing herself to be seen half naked.

Remi leaned against one of the counters, munching away on a deep red gold-flecked fruit watching both couples expectantly. His green eyes glowed a bit and Alluna gasped when the image of Rowie riding Remi’s loins blazed into her mind. Remi’s grin spread, his hand drifting down to rub at the prominent bulge tenting the front of his white drawstring pants.

“Z-Zak…” she moaned.

“Yes, baby,” he crooned giving her thigh a quick swipe with his tongue.

Alluna bit her lip and watched as Remi slowly dipped his hand into his pants. He began to stroke himself, his eyes narrowing as his tongue darted out and licked his upper lip.

“Lick me,” she whined.

Zak chuckled and his tongue darted out to lap at her thighs. Alluna wriggled in frustration, gritting her teeth when Remi began to roll his hips and pump faster.

'More creative, Alluna,' Remi growled in her mind. 'Tell him you want him to lick your pretty little pussy. '

Her face heated up and her mouth dropped in shock at Remi’s dirty request. He pulled at the ties to his pants and they slid down, baring his erection…and the sight of a metal ring piercing the head. Tattooed wings rose up his hipbones making her eyes bulge.

Tell him, Alluna.

“Zak,” she panted, watching Remi’s fist stroke up and then down, his abs clenching in pleasure as he watched Zak lick her thighs.

“Yes, baby,” Zak groaned.

She had him by his balls. Zak buried his face in her heat again, gripping her quivering thighs with both hands as his tongue tasted every inch of her flesh. The Arborian witch tasted of fire and spice, intoxicating. He couldn’t get enough. He could live on the taste of this female alone.

His shaft ached and he felt his balls pull tight against his body. Zak was about to cum untouched.

Alluna bucked against his face, begging him explicitly to continue his oral assault. Evidently, she’d forgotten about being surrounded by his Alpha Angel brothers and sister…except Seth.

Seth had teleported out of the dining room, a ball of frustrated desire. Poor bastard was still hung up on the pretty, red-haired reaper, Amaranth.

Alluna cried out above him, moaning and saying things that made Zak falter in his licking and sucking.

Remi, the bastard, was telling her what to say to him…a slew of dirty, erotic words spilled from his sweet girl’s lips.

Zak grinned. He’d have to spank her later, maybe put some cherry flavored lube on his dick, and wash her dirty little mouth out. He pushed both images into her mind and she came apart, gushing her pleasure all over his face.

He still hurt and needed to relieve himself. Rising to his full six-foot-seven stature, he began undoing the ties to his pants. To his utter amusement, Devon was already balls deep inside Angel, pumping wildly while she nipped at his pale skin and whimpered.

Just as Zak was about to thrust into Alluna, Anniel appeared at the other side of the table, facing him.

“Have any of you seen the news?” Her eyes were wide and Zak stopped before breaching his girl.

“Annie, we’re busy,” Zak growled.

Her eyes swept over him and then the others. She scowled. “I see. I guess that’s why no one has felt the presence of the reapers orbiting the space station asking for clearance to come in.”

Devon swore and then he and Angel were no longer there.

Zak jumped when Remien roared and turned just in time to see his crazy-assed Alpha Angel brother taking a blade to his thigh. Ropey lines of cum spurted across the floor, joined by droplets of crimson.

Remi needed pain to orgasm without Rowie.

He pressed Alluna’s face to his chest, not wanting her to see Remi’s way of self-pleasuring. Her mind was still too innocent to understand such brutal needs and the sight of Rem hurting himself would only scare her.

“Fuck, Remi. Can’t you wait for Row?”

Remi shivered. “Sorry.”

“Zak,” Anniel snapped drawing his attention again. “The media. There’s a big stir about Alluna.” Anniel looked at the female still shuddering in his arms from the orgasm he’d given her.

“The media is always making up shit, Annie.”

'Zak, we need you in the transport hangar.' Devon’s voice vibrated in his mind.

“You two better get cleaned up. This is pretty serious, Zak,” Anniel insisted. “I’m going to do a little investigating myself. Remi, why don’t you help me? It’ll take your mind off things while Rowie gets here. I know you’re dying to go out to pick her up yourself.”

“I’m not scared of Navar. Don’t give a shit if he banned me from the tour.”

“Yes, but Rowie has enough on her hands at the moment without having to worry about the vampire entourage draining you dry. The vampire serum doctor White developed no longer works on either of you guys.”

Remi shrugged and straightened his pants. The wound on his thigh was already healing, his dragon’s blood drying on the floor.

When they disappeared, Zak cupped Alluna’s face in his hands. Golden eyes blinked up at him, her mouth soft and inviting.

“Alluna,” he sighed kissing her. Her tongue slid into his mouth boldly, making his lower half throb in agony. He pulled back reluctantly, feeling his self control shred to a mere thread. “They might want to take you away from me.”

Alluna panted, her eyes becoming more focused. Her fingers stroked up his arms and gripped him tight. She shook her head. “No. Who? Who wants to take me away from you? The Grei alien? The vampire?”

Zak caressed her cheeks. “I’m not sure yet. Do you remember anything from your childhood? Where you always in your tower room?”

Alluna frowned. “Mama had another room…a dungeon. She had me practice my magic there, but the sleeping vampire and dragon made me afraid…and sad too.”

Zak furrowed his brows. “What?”

“She had a blood-starved vampire. He’d turned to stone and lay slumped over a rock. Someone had driven fake angel’s wings into his back.” Alluna shuddered. “That must’ve been so painful for the poor thing.”

“You said she had a sleeping dragon,” Zak urged.

Alluna nodded. “He’s chained to a wall in the dungeon and Mama has a music box playing…” Alluna looked guilty.

“Playing what?” Zak insisted again, stroking his thumb across her cheek to reassure her.

“The Dragon’s Lullaby.”

Zak frowned. It was Remi sang to him whenever he felt he was losing control of his beast.

“Mama wanted me to sing it to you and then place my necklace around your neck to have you do my bidding.” Alluna touched her bare neck and seemed to be fiddling with something.

“What necklace?”

She lifted the tiny gold dragon for his inspection. His eyes swept down and then back up to hers, confused.

Alluna looked down at her dragon pendant. “This necklace.”

She looked back up at him. His brows were slightly raised. “There’s nothing around your neck, Alluna.”

“You can’t see it?” she asked incredulously holding the pendant up to him.

He shook his head and then cocked his head to the side as if listening to something.

The others were communicating with him. He looked back at her, his features tight with anger now.

“I want you to stay with Anniel for a moment. You do exactly what she says. Promise me Alluna.”

“I-I don’t—“

“Please,” he begged now. “I need you. I’ll go out of my mind if they take you away. You must listen to Anniel. I’ll be communicating with her.” He touched his head to let Alluna know what type of communication he meant. “Just for a little while.”

Alluna nodded and threw her arms around him again. His heat soothed her, as well as the strength she felt coiled into his body.

“Are you hungry, baby?”

At the mention of food, her tummy grumbled. He chuckled, brushing a kiss to the crown of her head. “I’ll leave you with Annie and send food.”

Seth was tense, and it was no wonder. Seven reapers stood in the hanger, their transport pods gleaming like black darts under the bright white lights in the otherwise dark hangar.

Zak recognized Amaranth at once. Her red haired spilled down her back in a riot of fiery waves between a pair of jet-black wings, folded neatly against her spine. Black leggings barely covered the swell of her sex and hipbones and a pair of silver studded straps criss-cross over her round breasts. The half naked reaper had a gleaming silver divine sword strapped to her side and stared at Seth with cold silver eyes. Seth, in turn glared at her, his fists clenched at his side.

The heat between the two, despite the seething stares was hot enough to make the air around them crackle.

Zak would have laughed his ass off at both of them had he not been subject to the glares of the rest of the six black-winged males in the hangar.

The tallest and most imposing of them stepped forward.

Ashriel’s body was about as buff as Zak’s, but being seven feet tall with a wing-span of fifteen feet had a way of making the man damn scary looking. His hair was a rich shade of chocolate that spilled to the middle of his back smooth as satin. Ashriel’s eyes were the familiar icy silver all reapers had, made more striking by the tawny shade of his skin. He had two blades strapped to his back.

“Where is the girl?” his deep baritone voice demanded.

Zak’s hackles rose and Devon stepped next to him before his growl erupted from his throat. “Easy, Zak,” he said in a low voice before addressing the high priest reaper. “What’s going on?”

Ashriel’s eyes narrowed. “Interplanetary war is about to break out…again,” he snarled, his grey eyes blanking to solid black.

Zak knew a reaper’s eyes turned solid black when he was in a killing lust. It was a clear threat, one his commander would not tolerate. Zak turned his gaze to Devon, just in time to see his commander’s face lace over with black veins. Devon’s eyes glowed brighter and a snarl set loose from his lips. His demon’s blood was heating up in his veins, pushing him to lose control.

Aw, fuck!

“Hey,” Zak began, clearing his throat. “How ’bout we all calm the fuck down and sort this shit out.” He looked at Seth hoping to hell the kid would stop glaring at the female death angel and get his ass over to where Armageddon was about to start between Devon and Ashriel.

Both Seth and Amaranth rushed to either snarling man.

“Ash, baby, it’s okay,” Amaranth tried to soothe the riled reaper by placing her hands on his ruffled wings. “He’s only being protective of his disciples.”

“No one threatens my angels,” Devon snarled as both Zak and Seth crossed their arms over his chest in fear their commander would attack the reaper standing there with death in his black eyes.

Reapers killed demon’s on contact, and with Devon’s tainted blood surging less diluted, one touch from Ashriel would be all it took to turn him into a little pile of ash. Neither Zak nor Seth wanted that.

“Easy, Dev,” Seth commanded. “We all need to calm down. Think of Angel… and the baby.”

Zak felt his commander back down. He stopped snarling but his fangs remained bared and his breathing agitated.

“Ashriel,” Amaranth continued to stroke his wings.

Ashriel blinked and his eyes were back to normal even though he continued to scowl.

“Okay,” Seth breathed. “So, what’s all this talk of war?”

“The Northern king of Arboria has declared war on the Southern clan of Faeries and the Eastern nation of sorcerers. The Faerie realm is in an uproar. Planetary governments are taking sides as we speak”

“Why the hell?” Zak snapped. “What the hell has this got anything to do with Alluna and me?”

“The Northern king was once smitten with a Fey princess,” Amaranth explained. “He wanted to claim her despite the Faerie king’s disapproval. The Faerie king deemed the Northern king of Arboria too uncivilized for the princess.”

“But the girl was a spoiled little temptress,” Ashriel snapped. “She seduced him, got him to forget his responsibilities and ran away with him to another planet. For two weeks all they did was…” Ashriel closed his eyes with a shudder. “They fucked each other’s brains out. I begged the king to reconsider what he was doing, to go back to his kingdom and claim the girl properly. When he finally listened to me and took her back to Arboria she…” The reaper took a shuddering breath, looking livid. “She walked out on him.”

“What?” Seth, Devon, and Zak chimed at the same time.

“She left him. Disappeared,” Ashriel finished.

“The king was devastated,” Amaranth continued after Ashriel bowed his head. “After a few years he took a bride offered to him from the Eastern nation, but it was plain to see that it was not a happy union. He never touched his new queen. They don’t even sleep together. Years have gone by and he has had no heir to replace him. Once he dies, the queen can take over and it’s rumored that she has an ongoing affair with one of the planet’s Master Guardians.”

Zak blanched. A Master Guardian taking a throne? Not good. He’d make himself a god.

“I still don’t get what that has to do with Alluna,” Seth insisted.

“The girl looks just like the Northern king, except that her skin color is much lighter. She has Fey facial features, soft delicate.”

“Her ears aren’t pointed,” Zak argued. “This is ridiculous.”

“The Northern king is claiming she’s his daughter and that he’s been denied his rightful heir all these years. He demands her return…and that you be put to death for apparently enslaving his princess.”

Zak gaped at them. Enslaved?

“It’s all over the media,” Ashriel growled, one lip curling up in disgust at Zak. “You are notorious for your particular tastes in sexual practices and some of the women you’ve bedded have claimed to have borne the marks of your…passion. Whippings, bondage, master-slave play.”

“Someone heard Alluna call you master. The consensus is that you purchased her off the black market to enslave her as your personal whore,” Amaranth finished.

“I saved her life,” Zak bellowed, taking a step toward the imposing reaper called Ashriel.

Devon gripped his arm.

“You must give her back to her father,” Ashriel insisted, his eyes like ice.

“Like hell I will,” Zak snarled, his skin itching with the onset of a shift. “She’s mine.”

“A war is about to break out,” Ashriel snarled, his eyes going black again. “When war breaks out it gives more power to the dark one. That’s all Lucifer needs to start his reign again. Everyone at each others’ throat and bloodshed. His control over the new dark prince will be more powerful than ever. “Ashriel turned his head to Devon. “He lies in wait for the sacrifice. Which one of you is it?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Devon snapped.

“It’s either you or your brother. Where’s the other twin? Lucien. Where is he?”

Zak’s head ached. “What the hell is he talking about, Dev?”

“Get out,” Devon rasped.

“You can’t hide him forever,” Ashriel snarled, “I’ll find him… and when I do…”

Ashriel unsheathed one of his swords and in a flash of fire, Devon had his own divine sword in his hand.

Demon and angel faced one another.

“I will destroy him,” Ashriel rasped.

Zak stood next to Devon, Seth flanking his other side. Amaranth gripped Ashriel’s arm and tugged.

“Ash, stand down. We did not come here for a confrontation.”

The reaper took a deep breath. After a few seconds, where his silver eyes burned furiously, the tip of his sword went down slowly. He took a few steps back before making an about face and stomping back to the cluster of reaper transport pods.

“Dev, you really think Luke is strong enough to break open the gates of Hell?” Zak asked n a low voice.

They stood watching the reapers get into their transports. The small space ships emitted a subdued melodious sound, like a chorus of angels singing. They rose off the hangar floor and turned revealing their glowing blue tails. In the blink of an eye, they’d zipped out of the first airlock and disappeared.

Zak looked at Devon, who still held his sword.

“Yes,” Devon replied. “All he needs is the right sacrifice.”