Marked in Flames

  ASPEN PACK

  BOOK FIVE

  CARRIE ANN RYAN

  Contents

  Copyright

  Praise for Carrie Ann Ryan….

  Marked in Flames

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  A Note from Carrie Ann

  Also from Carrie Ann Ryan

  About the Author

  Marked in Flames

  An Aspen Pack Novel

  By: Carrie Ann Ryan

  © 2022 Carrie Ann Ryan

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-63695-194-2

  Paperback ISBN: 978-1-63695-322-9

  Cover Art by Sweet N Spicy Designs

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person or use proper retail channels to lend a copy. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  All characters in this book are fiction and figments of the author’s imagination.

  Praise for Carrie Ann Ryan….

  “Count on Carrie Ann Ryan for emotional, sexy, character driven stories that capture your heart!” – Carly Phillips, NY Times bestselling author

  “Carrie Ann Ryan’s romances are my newest addiction! The emotion in her books captures me from the very beginning. The hope and healing hold me close until the end. These love stories will simply sweep you away.” ~ NYT Bestselling Author Deveny Perry

  "Carrie Ann Ryan writes the perfect balance of sweet and heat ensuring every story feeds the soul." - Audrey Carlan, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author

  “Carrie Ann Ryan never fails to draw readers in with passion, raw sensuality, and characters that pop off the page. Any book by Carrie Ann is an absolute treat.” – New York Times Bestselling Author J. Kenner

  “Carrie Ann Ryan knows how to pull your heartstrings and make your pulse pound! Her wonderful Redwood Pack series will draw you in and keep you reading long into the night. I can’t wait to see what comes next with the new generation, the Talons. Keep them coming, Carrie Ann!” –Lara Adrian, New York Times bestselling author of CRAVE THE NIGHT

  "With snarky humor, sizzling love scenes, and brilliant, imaginative worldbuilding, The Dante's Circle series reads as if Carrie Ann Ryan peeked at my personal wish list!" – NYT Bestselling Author, Larissa Ione

  "Carrie Ann Ryan writes sexy shifters in a world full of passionate happily-ever-afters." – New York Times Bestselling Author Vivian Arend

  “Carrie Ann’s books are sexy with characters you can’t help but love from page one. They are heat and heart blended to perfection.” New York Times Bestselling Author Jayne Rylon

  Carrie Ann Ryan's books are wickedly funny and deliciously hot, with plenty of twists to keep you guessing. They'll keep you up all night!” USA Today Bestselling Author Cari Quinn

  "Once again, Carrie Ann Ryan knocks the Dante's Circle series out of the park. The queen of hot, sexy, enthralling paranormal romance, Carrie Ann is an author not to miss!" New York Times bestselling Author Marie Harte

  Dedication

  For the Belles Besties.

  Always stay hydrated.

  You’ll need to in this book.

  Marked in Flames

  My mate rejected me, leaving me broken. I refuse to let that happen again—even if Steele is the one for me.

  I hold the power of flame and future in my hands, but I know the world is watching. Waiting for us to fall.

  The truth and lies that bind the Aspen Pack together are crumbling and I am to bear witness to its fate.

  I know the Enforcer of the Aspens is my mate.

  Yet neither of us want what fate decrees.

  So, we’ll fight side by side and ignore the burning attraction between us.

  Only when a traitor rocks the foundation of all we know, we might not have a choice to who we cling to in despair.

  The vampires were only the pawns in this war.

  The demons are on their way.

  And if we’re not careful, the Aspen Pack could lose someone that breaks them.

  And I could lose my mate.

  Again.

  Prologue

  Malphas

  Malphas stepped towards the small townhome at the edge of a pleasant neighborhood. He didn’t like this area, didn’t like that the magical wards from the witches—who had unfortunately regained some of their power—seemed to scrape at his skin. It shouldn’t matter, however. In the end, the witches would understand who held the power. They were so cute, with their little magics. Only the ones who came to him to understand the power of blood and were willing to sacrifice actually deserved the power in their veins.

  His Lilith understood that, and she let him use her however he needed. Through power and bond and flesh and everything in between. Lilith held the power that he gave her. And she understood that, without him, she would have nothing.

  Malphas was the one with the true power, and these witches and their little coven would soon understand.

  He slid his hand over his chest, ignoring that familiar ache. None of the vampires surrounding him noticed. They were busy doing as instructed, getting ready for this step. They didn’t realize the witches had gotten a blow in. That death witch had gone down into a version of purgatory, into his hell, and had taken what was his.

  She would die just like the others, but first, it was time to collect his trophy. The little songbird to be locked in a cage and would fight and would scream and would burn.

  Yes, first he would take her.

  “Darling? Are you ready?”

  He turned to Lily and slid his thumb over her lips. Her mouth parted, her eyes going dreamy, her pupils dilating. He forced his thumb into her mouth, pressing down on her tongue and gagging her, forcing her to suck on the digit.

  “Such a good girl,” he murmured.

  He slid his finger out, then leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips. He liked the touch of flesh, liked the way bodies moved against one another when he was in control. It was why he liked this human body. And why he would take Lily’s, and whoever else bowed before him. Lily was not his only lover, but she was his consort and would help him bring down the Aspens.

  The Northwest Packs had taken down his brother, but he wasn’t as stupid as Caym. The Packs would bow before him.

  But first, they needed a witch.

  “Burn it.”

  The vampires—his children—moved as one. He’d made them from his own blood, his own flesh. They were his progeny, his legacy. And he controlled all of them.

  Once the vampires learned how to control their own blood, they had some freedom, and they thought that they were in control of their armies, of their destinies. Little did they know that Malphas could pull the cord that would take them to their fate.

  They knew nothing, for Malphas was their future. Their only.

  “Will we take out the other buildings attached?” Lily asked, her head tilted as she spotted the flames beginning to rise.

  Malphas nodded. “Yes. Take them all out. The humans too. They’re not needed.”

  “You do not want to increase our forces?” his commander asked, and Malphas shook his head.

  “We have enough for now. The ones in the end unit are part of the Human Union. They will learn what happens when they don’t follow us, what happens when they rise against us. And not just the filthy mongrel shifters.”

  The orders given, his commanders moved off as the fire continued to rage.

  Malphas held out his hands and began to chant the power of old, of his people.

  For inside was a fire witch, the flames within her beckoning. She would’ve been the perfect consort, the perfect lover, writhing beneath him with agony and bliss. There was something inside her that called to him, something he didn’t quite understand. But he would learn what it was once she was under his command.

  The flames began to burn higher, and while she could survive the flames like no other could, her power unique in her own right, she wouldn’t be able to fight unconscious.

  The vampires moved as one and fighting commenced, punctuated by the sounds of people screaming and glass breaking. Malphas stood and watched; they didn’t need his power.

  With a final scream, Jade was lost to the power and was only for him.

  Lily wrapped her arm around his waist, and he smiled as he petted his consort’s head.

  “She thinks she’s all-powerful, leader of a coven of weak witches. But her magic is nothing against ours.”

  “No, my lover, my consort. She will be ours to play with.” Malphas’ lips twitched.

  “Yes, darling. Ours to play with.”

  He wanted her power, craved it.

  She was the first step in the wolves’ unending. In their undoing.

  She was the first step in his becoming.

  The immortal plan
e would be his soon enough, but first, he needed a witch.

  Chapter

  One

  Steele

  I easily ducked the first blow, then shook my head. The man in front of me had bulked out over the past few months, but he still wasn’t back to where he used to be. There was a darkness in his gaze, a thinness to his hips. I could no longer see his ribs as he took deep breaths, so there was that at least.

  Being dead for as long as Blake Jamenson had been left one’s body in a state of weakness.

  I rolled out of the way of Blake’s next kick, both of our claws out but not doing any damage.

  This was a dominance challenge, but not in the ways that others might think. I nodded tightly, threw my shoulder into Blake’s gut, then kept moving, punch after punch, kick after kick, as Blake got out his aggression and showed the Pack who he was, while I let some of my anger slide through.

  But this was also a teaching moment.

  I was nearly fifty years older than Blake, but Blake had lived a thousand lifetimes.

  Although the irony of that meant I would never actually say that aloud.

  When Blake and Tatiana had come back from death, or wherever the hell they had been before Dara, our harvester death witch, had brought them back, they had looked exactly like they had when they were killed on the battlefield when the Talon Pack fought the human government. At that point in time, shifters had only recently been forced into revealing ourselves, and some of the government hadn’t liked us. Well, that was probably still the case. They had wanted to exterminate us, and some had succeeded. Others, like the man who had helped kill Blake and Tatiana, had wanted to study us.

  They had vivisected our brothers and sisters, had torn our bodies apart in order to find a way to create their own shifter super-soldier. And they had nearly succeeded—one of the test subjects was actually part of the Talon Pack now. But the only way that those super soldiers had survived and not turned into grotesque monsters was because of a mating bond.

  The government had lost, and now the people in power were friends of the shifters.

  It would likely not always work out like that. We constantly had to prove to the world that we weren’t or and strong or would kill people with one swipe of a claw near the jugular.

  Humans still feared us, with hate groups rising in popularity and threatening us. There were still bills in the government trying to take us out or claim that we weren’t human. But we had power too, so we would always find a way to survive.

  Just as Blake had.

  Just as I had.

  Blake moved, claws outstretched, and I took him by the neck, slamming him to the ground.

  Blake was strong, stronger with each passing day as he healed, at least physically.

  But I was the Enforcer of the Aspen Pack.

  It was my sacred duty, a blessing and gift from the moon goddess, to protect my Pack. I had extra bonds to our Pack, much like the Alpha. He could sense the overall well-being of the Pack and be exactly who each Pack member needed, and I fought against the outside forces. If there was a threat to our Pack, my wolf would know.

  Only, we had been under threat for as long as I had been Enforcer.

  The demons and vampires surrounded us. They were coming for us, so we needed to be stronger, faster, a tighter unit.

  And that is why I pinned Blake to the ground as he struggled against my hold.

  The others were watching, as this dominance challenge had been sanctioned, but they had seen the way Blake fought.

  They saw the strength in both of us.

  Blake lowered his gaze, his wolf not as dominant as mine yet, but he had still drawn blood.

  He had already risen through the ranks of the Aspen Pack since he had joined us a few weeks ago, but now he was stronger.

  I pressed my claws against Blake’s chest, feeling the heartbeat underneath my palm. That was good. A damn good thing.

  I had known Blake before the war, but we had never been friends. In fact, I had been hiding within the ranks of the Aspens during that time, our former Alpha having not let us help the Talons in any way.

  “Yield,” I whispered, my voice a low growl.

  Blake looked up at me again, his eyes gold with his wolf, before he nodded. “I yield,” he gritted out. I smiled, just a quick flash of teeth. I didn’t smile often, at least according to everyone who knew me, so when I stood up and held out my hand, Blake looked at it for a second. For a moment I thought his pride would be too much, that the chip on his shoulder was even larger than my own, but he slid his palm against mine and I quickly pulled him to his feet.

  The spectators cheered before some went back to their day. Others came towards us, surrounding us. Blake was new to the Aspen Pack, but we were wolves, and we understood how to comfort.

  “Good fight,” I said truthfully.

  Blake smiled. For an instant, his eyes lit up as if he had no darkness within, but then he blinked it away and looked at the others. “I guess nobody can beat the Enforcer of the damn Aspen Pack,” he said dryly.

  Hayes, our Omega and a six-foot-six tall and broad man who could turn into a polar bear let out a gruff laugh. “You’re the idiot who decided to fight against him rather than another dominant right in front of you. But I’d say all of our wolves understand where you rank now.”

  “I don’t know. My wolf just wanted to try it.”

  “Yeah? Then you did pretty good,” Hayes said before he walked off, rubbing his chest.

  As the Omega, Hayes could feel every emotion within the Pack. He usually blocked it off, just like sometimes I had to block off my own bonds, but something was rattling the old bear, and he wouldn’t tell me. Hayes was on his own most days, if he wasn’t hanging out with Wren, our Healer, or Wynter, a human who had been forced to live with us when the human she worked with had threatened her and taken everything from her.

  Our Pack was growing by leaps and bounds, just like a healthy Pack should.

  The crowd dispersed until it was just me, Blake, and Chase, our Alpha.

  Blake immediately lowered his gaze from the both of us, and I did the same to Chase. I might be dominant as hell, but I was nothing compared to my Alpha, or our Beta. Audrey was off with Gavin, the two of them finally taking a moment to themselves.

  They had been mated for a few years, for the second time, but with the war with the vampires and demons, they hadn’t had many moments to themselves. They were still on den grounds, I could feel them, though I blocked that connection quickly, but they hadn’t been here for the dominance fight.

  “You’re doing well, Blake. Are you aiming to be one of our lieutenants?”

  Blake shrugged. “Maybe. I want to thank you again for letting me join. I know it probably isn’t easy dealing with me.”

  I met Chase’s gaze for an instant before Chase cleared his throat. “My wife is your cousin, and your other cousin is mated to my best friend. I’m pretty sure we are all turning into one Pack as it is. But I also understand wanting to branch out. You have a lot of siblings and cousins over there.”

  “And Mom and Dad weren’t happy when I decided to leave the Pack, if only for a time.”

  The Redwood Pack had grieved when they lost one of their own, but now he was back, though he clearly wasn’t the same man as before. He wasn’t the baby of the family, wasn’t all smiles and curly hair. He was different, and though I knew the Redwoods were stronger and tied more emotionally than any other Pack I knew, it must have been a blow to them to realize Blake had changed so much. They gave him space, but Blake needed a change, and both Alphas agreed.

  The fact that both Lexi and North of the Redwood Pack were visiting here more often made me smile.