Free Bear Reign (Alpha Guardians Book 7) by Vivian Wood Page B

finding her clit, she shattered in an instant, clenching and screaming and sobbing.
    Ephraim came with a shout, fingers gripping her hips painfully hard, pumping his seed deep inside her body again and again, fulfilling her fantasy in ways she couldn’t have comprehended.
    He shocked her then, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her up, pressing his lips to her neck. He buried his teeth in her neck, marking her as his mate, taking her by complete surprise.
    She should fight, rail against him. She should be angry that he hadn’t even asked whether she wanted it, wanted him…
    Instead she allowed Ephraim to pull her down to the bed, to wrap her in his arms, to whisper sweet things against her neck where her new mating mark lay. Every other minute of every day, she fought.
    Right here, right now…
    Surrender was her escape, and Ephraim the fulfiller of her dreams.
    Just for tonight…
    Even as she thought the words, the bite on her neck ached, and she knew they weren’t true. She was Ephraim’s now, and Ephraim was hers. For better or for worse, they were bound… at least until Sophie managed to kill Papa Aguiel, which would probably destroy her completely.
    Better not to think of that now. Better to inhale Ephraim’s sultry, comforting scent, lay in his protective embrace, soak in his warmth…
    And lie to herself, if that’s what it took to snatch this one tiny bit of happiness.

Chapter Nine
    B edlam didn’t quite begin to describe the state of the French Quarter when Sophie and Ephraim rode down Decatur Street in the Guardians’ armored SUV. Duverjay was driving all the males plus Alice and Echo, who were apparently allowed to go on such a dangerous mission. As they cruised past the French Market, paying absolutely no attention to the usual one-way streets, the place was deserted.
    Except the staggering corpses and the possessed, who were legion in number. Groups of them moved in swarms, this direction and that, single-minded as flocks of sheep being herded onward… but to what?
    “Shit, there are a bunch of humans running away from the Riverwalk,” Aeric said, pointing toward the paved area where the French Quarter met the Mississippi river. “They don’t look particularly possessed to me.”
    “Pull over,” Rhys commanded Duverjay. “And don’t you dare let Echo leave this truck.”
    Sophie arched a brow. So that was the deal Echo had worked out, getting out of the Gray Market but being forced to stay in the car? Raw deal, in Sophie’s opinion.
    Her own mate was looking at her like he wished nothing more than to force her to do the same, but he just stayed tense and silent. When the SUV screeched to a halt, they all piled out. Half the Guardians spread out toward the approaching humans, but it was a lost cause. After a few moments all the humans stopped dead, staring forward mindlessly.
    “Papa Aguiel’s got them under his spell all right,” Ephraim said to Sophie. She nodded. In a terrifying moment, all the humans turned as one and began to stagger back toward the river.
    “He’s on the Steamboat Natchez,” Sophie said, pointing at a bright bolt of blue light that rose into the night sky. “He’s probably channeling raw elemental power straight from the river, using it to help bolster his control over the possessed.”
    Sticking her hand into her pocket, Sophie reassured herself that the thin velvet pouch holding the black gemstone was still there. Waiting for her, it seemed.
    As she and Ephraim and the rest of the Guardians rushed to follow the possessed humans, Papa Aguiel made his presence more clear. Bolt after bolt of magic spewed into the sky, and a dark figure could be seen on the deck of the boat, swathed in the same blue light.
    As Sophie racked her brain for desperate, last-minute brain storms on how she might use the gemstone on Papa Aguiel without involving Ephraim, her mate shifted into his bear form and barreled toward a large group of zombies that swept in from the east