Heat Alternative (Spoilers) (Patreon)

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR HEAT!

At one point in time I was rethinking how I wanted my second book "Heat" to go.

For those that have read it, you know that they end up in Haven at the mercy of the werewolf Queen. After writing the first manuscript I wasn't sure if the events thereafter were what I wanted to do or not, so I had started an alternate version of Heat, one where Kain is forced to stay at Haven and Autumn has to return home alone.

In the end I decided against it because while it would have been an interesting story, I just couldn't see where it was going to go. Plus I had the original version almost finished at that point, and if I continued I would have to re-write most of the book.

Anyway, here is where that alternate starts to diverge from the storyline, during Chapter 8 when they are having tea with the Queen. I must say I did enjoy writing the angst ;)

Let me know what you think!

___________________________________________________________

The Queen sighed and placed her cup and saucer back on the tray, and leaned back once more to gaze at Autumn. “Now you must return to your home. It is there that you will be strongest. It is there that you must learn what you are. I can help you no more than I have.”

Autumn tensed as all three of her consorts filed into the room as black beasts, eyes keen on them both. A chill went up her spine, and she felt Kain’s tension next to her as well.

“Just like that, you’re letting us go?” Kain asked and the Queen gave him a small, regretful smile.

“I am letting her go, my pet, to do what she must do.”

Autumn paled at her words and beside her Kain went rigid.

The Queen quirked an eyebrow at him and her consorts prowled closer. “Did you forget about our little arrangement? I have been more than generous to you both, and done what you asked of me. I have given you shelter here. I have seen what follows her, and I have seen what must be done. For her own good I have made her more powerful than we yet realize, and I have given her the tools she will need to protect herself. I cannot remove her memories, but she is free to return to her life.”

“Changing her was not part of our bargain!” Kain growled at her, rising from his seat. “If you want payment, then take my goddamned power! It’s what you’ve wanted all along.”

“And I told you I cannot take it.” the Queen growled back, and rose gracefully to her feet. “Since it is of no use to me, I will have the rest of what you owe me. And you owe me a great deal, Rogue, for all of my time wasted chasing you to the ends of the Earth. You will stay here with me and be my consort, as agreed upon.”

Kain shook his head. “You cannot send her out into the world like this, newly changed, uncontrolled, alone.”

“Bennett will accompany her,” the Queen said over him, “and he will help guide her and protect her through her changes. He will be her mentor, and will stay with her until she is in control of herself. He will also try to determine the source of the threat against her. She could not be in better hands.”

Kain snarled, and Autumn rose to her feet beside him.

“She could be in my hands, as her fucking mate! What of our goddamned mate bond?”

The Queen raised an eyebrow “You mean your mate bond. She has not returned your bite, so your bond will not affect her in the least.”

Autumn laid her hand on Kain’s shoulder as she felt him tense to leap. The fury coming off of him was palpable. She was terrified down to her toes. They couldn’t be separated. Not now, not after all they had gone through. The thought of it slashed like ice through her.

“You can’t do this,” she blurted out in panic, gripping Kain’s shoulder.

The Queen lifted her chin and gave Autumn an icy stare. “I can and I will. If he tries to break our agreement I will kill you both, here and now. He has no choice but to bind himself to me as agreed.”

Her consorts prowled around them, growling softly, claws clicking on the stone floor. The Queen gathered her robes around her and stepped away from them. Her cold eyes found Autumn again, and her stare chilled Autumn to the bone.

“You are the same as I now, and in fact, more powerful. Your presence here is already disrupting my court. Your destiny lies in your own home, which you will return to immediately. And should you decide to try and stay here girl, or try to aid him? I will kill you myself.”

She turned before either of them could respond and began walking away.

“Now, if you will follow me, there is the matter of a ritual to perform before you are escorted out of my domain.”

They were escorted out the of the Queen’s quarters, flanked by beasts on all sides. Autumn clung to Kain in terror. Kain was barely in control of himself, and his rage, and he felt the change crawling along his nerve endings. For all his restored power, he was still powerless here, and it was made abundantly clear as they entered the grand hall, where every single Kierrn was in attendance, and every single one was in their beast forms. All eyes were locked on the two of them, and fangs glinted in the dim light. Larissa’s power was on full display as she mounted her dais and took her seat on her throne.

“It is a joyful day my children,” she said as she opened her arms wide and looked around the room. “for we are about to induct a new member into our ranks. You have heard of him. You have known him. You have hunted him, and tasted his blood. He has come home to us at last.”

There was a chorus of roars, some of excitement, some of rage, and some even of Hunger. Autumn gasped and put her hands up to her ears. Kain pulled her close and protected her with his arms, snarling back at the throng.

Larissa watched with a small smile, and then waved her hand and the noise abruptly stopped.

“Today we initiate the Rogue into our ranks. He shall be the Rogue no longer. Instead he will be my royal consort, bound in blood to me to serve, and protect. He will be as royalty here among us.”

Kain snarled at her, even as several beasts circled them, salivating, just waiting for him to do something, anything, so they could rip him apart. Autumn trembled in his arms, and the scent of her fear was thick. He had never known such rage within himself, and a primal need to protect his mate. Instinct was overpowering his reason, and he was powerless to stop the wolf that roared inside of him.

“Come here, pet.” Larissa purred, crooking her finger at him.

Kain ignored her and tightened his arms around Autumn. He was no longer in control, and fur erupted all over his body as his form began to change. He would do battle to protect her. He would kill for her. The other werewolves circled him, growling and chuffing, and Kain snapped his fangs at them in warning.

Suddenly all of the wolves fell back with small yips and growls, shrinking back and sitting on their haunches. Kain watched them, half shifted, growling loudly. Glacial eyes watched them from the darkness, and quiet descended over the hall.

“Kain,” Larissa’s voice was even, but the threat underneath was all too evident. “I can kill you both right now with a flick of my wrist. My children will tear you both apart on my whim. Do you want that? Or will you obey me?”

Kain tore his eyes from the others and bared his fangs at her a moment, then looked around at the obediently sitting throng. They were eager for it, he could tell. They practically salivated at the thought of ripping them both apart. He flicked his eyes to Larissa again, suppressing the growl in his throat, and closed his eyes. Autumn held him tightly as he battled the wolf within and began forcing his shape back to human once more.

Larissa was right, he had no choice but to obey her.

“It’ll be okay,” Autumn said into his chest. He could hear the tears in her voice and it tore him apart.

Fully shifted back to human now, he leaned back from her and cradled her head in his hands. He searched her eyes, so different now, yet so achingly familiar.

This was it, the end of their road.

Tears stung his eyes as he brushed the hair away from her face.

“I’m sorry my love. I’m so sorry.”

Autumn closed her eyes and placed a hand on his, rubbing her cheek into his palm. She gave him a small, brave smile and reached up to touch his face.

“Don’t,” she shook her head. “You did what you could. To save me.”

“Kain…” the Queen said from her dais, and it took everything he had not to leap at her with his claws. He gritted his teeth instead and caressed Autumn’s cheek. He wanted to memorize her features, breathe her scent until it was all he could smell, study everything about her so that he could never forget a single thing.

Shade prowled out of the throng towards them, and Kain bent his head to hers. She met his lips eagerly, and he held her in his arms as they kissed their farewells.

Kain stared into her eyes for a long moment, tears still falling, and he nodded.

“Okay. Okay.”

Larissa awaited him on the dais, and her expression as he came was not full of triumph, or cruelty. Instead her eyes held patience, and a hint of…regret?

Autumn watched him go, tears streaming down her face as he stepped upon the dais. He faced the Queen with defeat in his shoulders, and Autumn could have screamed. Kain knelt before the Queen on one knee, his face a stone mask, and she wore a satisfied smile as she placed a hand on his head.

She stepped back then and let her robe fall to the floor around her, revealing her exquisite naked figure. Hot rage flushed through Autumn at the sight of Kain kneeling in front of the gorgeous woman, her bare breasts a touch away. Autumn gritted her teeth and felt an inhuman growl in her throat.

She watched then as the Queen began to transform, and it was effortless and almost liquid, her muscles and bones shifting. She tossed her head back with a lusty moan as fur shivered out of her darkening skin, and a tail pushed out of her pelvis. It was over in a matter of mere seconds, and the elegant black beast stood upright in front of Kain, looking down at him with a heaving chest.

Kain didn’t move, just knelt there with his jaw clenched tight. The Queen rumbled a guttural word at him that the wild in Autumn recognized as rise, and Kain got slowly to his feet. He started stonily past the Queen and held still while she towered over him, and snarled out more of their wolfish words. Be one with me, mine own.

Autumn couldn’t help the cry that escaped her throat as the beast bent her head to his shoulder then and bit deep. Kain winced and uttered a small grunt at the bite, and her long simian arms wrapped intimately around his form. Autumn stepped forward with a moan, and Marcus, she could tell by his scent, stepped in front of her with a warning his eyes. She stopped and watched helplessly as the Queen held onto Kain with her fangs, and then lifted her head and began licking his wound with a contented purring noise.

Autumn felt rage that was breathtaking. She would kill this woman, she vowed. Someday, some way, she would destroy this woman for everything she had done to them. The fury within her was nearly uncontrollable as she held herself back with an enormous effort. The Queen turned her head towards her as if sensing her fury, and bared her fangs at her. The bitch’s arms were still around him possessively. Marcus nudged her gently as if to keep the two females apart, even though they were separated by several yards. Around her the throng grumbled and snarled as the females bristled at one another.

“Let her go Larissa. You have what you want.” Kain said softly, bitterly in her arms, and her huge head swung back to him again. She stroked him then with her hand paws, and finally stepped back with a nod.

There was a shift of energy, and then the Queen was reassuming her human form once more, again with the same effortless, nearly elegant transformation as before. Within seconds she was back in her human shape. She stepped back to Kain and reached out to caress his face with a satisfied smile. Autumn nearly lunged at her again, but Marcus kept her back, grumbling at her in warning.

With her hand still on Kain’s face, the Queen turned to her motioned with her hand.

“It is done. He is mine now, forever more. You will leave now, and Shade and Rolf will escort you back to the plane where Bennett will meet you.”

She turned and mounted her dais once again, and settled her naked form onto her throne once more. She looked over at Kain, who had turned to look at Autumn with bleakness in his eyes.

The Queen sighed a little and waved her hand in the air.

“I am feeling magnanimous, so you may go with them my pet, to have your final farewells.”

Kain swung his head to her and looked at her a long moment, then nodded.

“Thank you Larissa.” he murmured, to which she raised an eyebrow and stiffened in her seat.

Kain visibly clenched his jaw and bowed to her slightly “I mean…my Queen.” he gritted out, and she relaxed in her seat once more and smiled.

“You will learn my pet. Now go, before I change my mind.”

She waved them away and sat back in her throne, watching them with glittering eyes.

Kain leapt off the dais and hurried over to Autumn who met him in a fierce embrace.

They turned and the throng parted for them and began making their way out of the hall with the two black beasts at their backs.

Collared, leashed, and muzzled.

Kain could feel the burning of Larissa’s brand in his shoulder, and could more so feel her within him somehow. Watching, listening, controlling. Her bite was a powerful thing, and he now knew what it felt like to be owned, like a goddamned dog. She could command him to do literally anything she wanted, and he could feel how he would be powerless to disobey.

Dark despair settled over him as they trudged through the deep snows once more, Autumn in his bestial arms with her face buried in his neck. How was he going to let her go? Even in Ben’s care the danger to her as a newly changed Kierrn was incredible. What if she lost control and hurt someone? Killed someone, especially someone she loved? Her whole life would be ruined. She would have to go on the run, like most of his kind. Their kind.

He wanted to roar and scream as he scented her own fear and despair.

Even though the journey took hours, it seemed like they were approaching the small air strip far too soon. Autumn stood by as Kain changed his shape back to human and donned the clothes they had brought with them.

Shade and Rolf hung back in their beast shapes within the trees as Kain and Autumn walked hand-in-hand out to the same cargo plane that had brought them in. Ben stood there looking grim, and he nodded at them both as they approached.

“Unfortunate goddamned business this, but I did try to warn you,” he sighed and shook his head. “I knew Larissa wouldn’t make this easy.”

Kain nodded his head grimly and held Autumn close. “What choice did I have old man? I should have killed that bitch long ago.”

Ben grunted and reached into his duster for a cigarette. “Then you’d be dead too, and what good would that do any of us?” He shook his head as he lit the end of his smoke.

“What’s done is done. You made your bargain, and while it didn’t turn out the way you wanted, you’re both still alive.”

Kain growled in his throat and pulled her close to him.

“This should have never happened. None of this. How is she supposed to live her life now, with what has been done to her? With what I was forced to do?

Ben grunted and took a drag on his cigarette. “You ever consider that there is more going on here than meets the eye, boy? Larissa may be many things, but she sees true. I wouldn’t be here, willing to protect your mate if there wasn’t so much at stake.”

“She is my life. You take care of her old man. You make sure she’s safe, even from herself. Swear it to me!”

Ben gave him a grave nod and made a gesture with his fingers in the air. Kain felt a trickle of some sort of power from the motion, then in a voice he had never heard the old man use before, he said “I swear it, Kain Ulmer. I swear your mate, Autumn Sullivan, will come to no harm under my care.”

He felt a lacing of power between them, causing him to pause. Ben just stared back at him with that shrewd gaze and took a long drag on his cigarette, then nodded at him. Kain could only nod back, He felt a surety in him that made him trust the man and his word in this. Autumn would be as safe as she could be with the Hunter.

Kain held Autumn close as the turboprop engine of the plane roared to life. She clung to him, shuddering, and he knew she was crying. He could smell her tears, and her despair in her scent.

“Don’t be afraid, love. Ben will take care of you. He will help you through the worst parts of this.” he said over the wind, and felt unabashed tears leaking from his own eyes. She shivered and nodded against him, clutching to him.

Kain stroked her head, and tipped her head back to look at him. He held her face in his hands with the cold wind whipping around them, and felt his heart shattering into pieces.

“I love you Autumn. I will always love you, and I will never forget you.” he choked out. The sight of her bright, warm eyes full of tears and despair nearly brought him to his knees.

“I don’t want to leave you,” she sobbed as she clutched his arms. Kain shook his head slowly and gave her a sorrowful smile. He bent his head to hers and kissed her deeply then, holding her as close as he could so that he could imprint her upon his very skin.

“I’ll see you in you in my dreams,” he choked out as he smoothed her hair away from her now perfect face. It was then he felt the tug on his leash like a dragging sensation on his whole body. Larissa wanted him back. Their time was over.

“I love you Kain. I will see you again, I promise.” she said, even as he felt himself let her go and step back.

He smiled sadly at her and shook his head as he began removing his clothing once more. “No, you won’t. She’ll never allow it.”

“Goodbye Autumn. My love.”

Autumn sobbed and he turned away even as he began to change, and joined his new brothers in the forest.