Free Ruling Fire (Bad Boys Of The Underworld Book 4) by Mallory Crowe Page A

the second Etta hit puberty. From then on, it was clear he only had eyes for one of the Handeland sisters.
    Elsie scrunched her face. “I hate that word. ‘Queen.’ It implies some sort of power and control. I’ve never felt more powerless in my life.”
    “If Brock is treating you right, I’m sure you can figure this out. You wouldn’t have bonded with him if there wasn’t some connection.”
    Her palm went to her forehead as she replayed the events that led up to her bonding. “That’s something else that makes no sense! There are clear rules for this. Sirens need commitment from the mate before they can bond. Different species have different mating rituals. Humans have marriage. Vampires are easy. All I’d need from you is an ‘I love you,’ and boom! Mated.”
    Thomas frowned. “I thought the wolves just publicly declared the mating and it was official.”
    “So did I! But nothing happened when he declared it. It was only after we…” Elsie trailed off as sick realization dawned. “Son of a bitch,” she muttered as she marched away from Thomas and toward her mother’s office.
    Rebecca wouldn’t have her family encyclopedia hidden away like Elsie. Hers would be prominently displayed for everyone to see, so it didn’t take long for Elsie to find the familiar-looking shiny black paperback.
    Flipping to the W section was easy enough considering how many times she’d read the chapter the night she found out about Brock.
    Only this book was different. Right in the beginning of the chapter, where mating rituals were always covered, the passage read, “ For a werewolf to claim a mate, there must be a public declaration and an exchange of DNA. Blood and sex are normally used, but a kiss is all that is necessary. ”
    Unable to look at it any longer, Elsie threw the book as hard as she could against the nearest wall. Thomas, who’d silently walked in while she was engrossed in the short passage, held his hands up in surrender. “Whoa there. What’s up?”
    “She lied to me! She played me!” Her hands came up as though she were about to hit something, but she clenched her fists. Her hands shook with the need to do something . She settled on yelling more. “I don’t even know why I’m surprised. This is just like her to ignore everything I’ve ever wanted as long as she gets what she wants!”
    Thomas took a cautious step back. “What are you talking about?”
    “Mother! The book she gave me—the one that’s supposed to tell me everything I need to know about all the creatures in the world—it was fixed! It didn’t tell me that a kiss would start the bond! She must’ve recognized the name Holt when I first started working there. She’s been planning this for years! She was there when he announced that we were together. It would’ve taken her three seconds to give me a ‘Hey, by the way, don’t kiss or have sex with Brock, like, ever, unless you want to be stuck with him for the rest of your life!’”
    “To be fair, that took you longer than three seconds to say,” said Thomas.
    The look she gave him shot silver daggers. “Hell! She could’ve text me!”
    His expression went back to serious. “She’s your mother. It only makes sense that she’d want you to live a long and prosperous life. Brock is powerful and, as long as he’s alive, you’re immortal now.”
    “Did you know there’s a whole bunch of werewolves who don’t want Brock in charge? They used to have some superpowered queen—Mary Beth or something—and they keep waiting for a new uber-queen. So now that he’s stuck with me, who knows what will happen? Do you think they will let him live when they kick him off the throne because of me?
    “And, because there’s more shit I have to deal with, the last two queens died in their sleep within four weeks. I already had one dream where a crazy lady tried to choke me out. What chance do I really have here?”
    Unable to stand still any longer, Elsie pushed past Thomas and