Bear Reign (Alpha Guardians Book 7) Read Online Free PDF Page B

me,” she said.
    His eyes dropped to her hands, checking to see if she had the keys ready and waiting.
    “Is that a command?” He asked.
    “Only if it has to be,” she shot back.
    His lips pulled back from his teeth, but he didn’t resist the acidic words that burst free.
    “Can’t be. I thought we were—” he had to stop himself there, shaking his head.
    “What? Tell me, Ephraim!” She insisted.
    “I thought we were mates,” he hissed. The word was sour on his tongue, an impossibility. Fate, his nemesis all these years, even she could not be so cruel. A destined love, a mate of his own… a master who owned him, who could control his every breath.
    It was unthinkable. Ephraim couldn’t look at her for another second, the ice in his chest beginning to crack and ache. He whirled and headed back inside, lest she give him another command.

Chapter Three
    P lop .
    Papa Aguiel scowled down at the blob of flesh that landed on the knee of his suit, clinging. He reached up to find that the patch of dark skin had liberated itself from near his left ear.
    Shaking his head, he hefted the ceremonial dagger and pushed onward. He was changing Vessels at least once a day now, and his options for suitable virgins were running quite low.
    No matter , he thought to himself, and it was true. His habit of changing bodies was at an end, because he’d finally secured the objects he needed to finish the ritual. The dagger, ripped from the dying hands of a Tibetan magic man who’d held it close for a Kith lifetime. A vial of dragon’s blood, procured from one of the Alpha Guardians during a recent battle. And a jar of essence, the product of months of effort on Papa Aguiel’s part, all his hopes and fears and family ties magically condensed into a simple glass mason jar.
    He stalked through the dark New Orleans night, heaving a sigh of relief when he finally walked under the highway overpass. Above him, cars whirred and zoomed along I-10, but he paid no attention.
    Looking around, he made sure the area was clear of pedestrians. No need for anyone to see the inner workings of his magic, just as a precaution. He found just the spot he needed, the place where all the Gates of Guinee aligned just so.
    Not a particularly auspicious spot for the magic he was about to work, but again it did not matter. All that mattered was his task, which would stop the decomposition of his current Vessel and bring him into the final stage of his great plan.
    Papa Aguiel gave himself a little shake, trying to rouse the energy level in his failing body. He took out the jar of essence, glancing at it one final time. Then he shrugged and unceremoniously smashed it on the ground before him, laying a snare for friendly and familial spirits that would power him through the last stage of his journey.
    Next he dumped out the vial of dragon’s blood, which smoked fiercely when it touched the essence. The ground rippled and heaved, looking for all the world like a living thing, and the Veil between the worlds shimmered faintly.
    Papa Aguiel grinned as he half-lunged, half-fell forward, sinking the dagger deep into the Veil and swinging it upward. The Veil parted as easily as flesh beneath a scalpel, drawing back to reveal a darkly glowing portal.
    Success .
    Holding his hands up and letting his oh-so-heavy head roll forward on his weak neck, he began his real work. Summoning the spirits who would strengthen and sustain him, that would give him utter dominion over the human realm.
    Even the Guardians couldn’t stop him now.
    After a few moments, the first tentative tendril of spirit slid from the gash in the Veil, slipping into the world to swirl around Papa Aguiel’s dying body.
    He sucked in a deep breath, inhaling the spirit whole into his lungs. It fortified him, the first of many that would do so.
    He grinned again, feeling his crumbling lips reforming on his face.
    “ It begins .”

Chapter Four
    I thought we were mates .
    Sophie stayed in the back yard