by Katie Reus
“Stay.” A subtle demand.
That one word rolled through her, making her entire body tingle in awareness. She knew exactly what he was doing. He didn’t want the others to see her naked. As shifters it was inevitable that packmates would see one another naked often and nudity wasn’t that big of a deal among their kind. But right now he was staking some sort of claim. She could feel it in a bone-deep way. Considering the way he’d been acting the past few months it should piss her off. Hell, she shouldn’t be feeling anything right now other than worry, but with the feel of Ryan pressed up against her, it was hard to think straight or to stay mad at the confusing wolf. So she did the one thing that felt right. Leaning forward, she wrapped her arms around his front, pressing her body close to his.
Shuddering, he laid his hands over hers and squeezed gently.
“Who the hell are you?” Connor asked one of the vamps, his voice low and deadly.
Teresa peered around Ryan’s body to see Connor, Noah, and Erin facing off with the two remaining vamps. Aiden and his bondmate were still unconscious on the floor. Worry for them made her antsy so she tightened her grip on Ryan.
“What . . .” The mouthy vampire from before looked around at all of them, confusion on his face. He didn’t have that strange, glassy-eyed look as before either. “What the hell happened? You killed my friends!”
Before anyone responded, one of the doors burst open and Jayce stalked in. And he looked pissed. At his presence, the vamps took off, racing toward the nearest exit. Using impressive vampiric speed they were gone in a flash.
Without pause Noah and Erin took off after them. Connor started to leave but Jayce held up a hand. Teresa knew the Alpha didn’t follow anyone’s orders, but it was clear Jayce knew something.
“We have a problem. Natalia killed a high-ranking vampire with one of my blades. I gave them to Kat as extra protection tonight. The male . . .” He glanced at Teresa before focusing on Connor. “His brother’s a member of the Brethren.”
The Brethren was a group of four ancient vampires who more or less ruled over all vamps. They were old, powerful, and all bloodborns—and her sister had just killed one of their relatives?
Shit.
Teresa swallowed hard at the ramifications. Ryan took her by surprise by turning around and grabbing onto her hips in a firm, immovable grip. With them naked, the way he tugged her close was impossibly intimate. Need rose up inside her like a wave. She tried to shove it down, but it was impossible.
Reaching out, Ryan cupped her cheek, his dark eyes flashing with too many emotions to define. As she leaned back to look up at him, it registered just how tall he was. The male was even bigger than their Alpha. Right now he had a fierce, determined look on his face.
“Nothing will happen to Natalia. I swear it.” The words were a sincere vow.
She nodded, more than a little stunned by the way Ryan was acting. “Okay.” This was a side to Ryan she’d wanted all along, but now that he was being so possessive she didn’t trust that it would last much longer than the dangerous situation.
It didn’t matter anyway. Neither did his vow because if her sister had just killed someone incredibly important, it affected their pack and their immediate family. Teresa had already lost too many packmates, she refused to lose anyone else.
Chapter 5
The sound of Connor’s voice drifted over Aiden. He struggled to surface from the consuming haze around him. Panic drove him toward consciousness as he tried to remember what was so important, why he felt so different.
Larissa.
His eyes snapped open and he realized he was sitting in the middle seat of one of the pack’s SUVs. And his bondmate was next to him. She was still unconscious, but alive. Without thinking, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. He was still naked except for the jacket Connor must have thrown over his waist.
Larissa buried her face against his neck and sighed. Which told him she was more or less sleeping rather than unconscious. His inner wolf immediately quieted at the feel of her and it took all his restraint not to haul her into his lap. Just holding her soothed every part of him. Through her clothes he could feel her body heat, though her core temperature was much cooler than his or even humans. But not as cool as regular vamps. As a bloodborn she had a slightly higher temperature. Leaning down to her neck, he inhaled her familiar scent and let it roll over him. She smelled like the forest in winter. And all his. She called to him on the most primal level—had from the moment he’d first seen her.
Connor was driving and he flicked Aiden a quick glance in the rearview mirror as he set his cell phone down on the center console. “Glad you’re awake. How’re you feeling?”
“Like I got run over by a truck.” His chest ached and something told him it was because of the newly cemented bonding link, not the dart hit he’d taken. He looked out the window at their surroundings to see that they were driving down a quiet two-lane highway that wasn’t familiar. The moon and stars illuminated the road and it was almost three so he’d been out for a few hours. “Where is everyone?”
Connor’s expression was grim. “Natalia killed a Brethren member’s brother and we killed a handful of vamps but two got away—Erin and Noah are tracking them. Ryan and Teresa have taken Natalia back to the ranch. Kat and Jayce are taking a human who was kidnapped by those asshole vamps to a friend of Jayce’s who can scrub her memories. The shit has hit the fan. Now how the hell is it that you have a bondmate? You told me she died.”
He snorted. “I’ve never said those words to anyone.” Sure, he’d insinuated it, but he’d never flat out said it. Deep down he’d never been able to admit that Larissa was gone forever even though on an intellectual level he’d known it had to be true. Without seeing her body with his own eyes, he and his wolf had rebelled at the thought of her being dead.
“It was implied.” The angry edge to Connor’s voice had Aiden straightening.
He remembered how he’d snarled at his Alpha in the club, basically challenging him. “I wasn’t challenging you earlier.”
Connor let out an exasperated sigh. “I know. Now . . .”
Aiden couldn’t answer what he didn’t know himself. He turned to look at Larissa. Her dark hair spilled over one of her shoulders in a soft cascade, covering the front of her black top. She snuggled closer to him. “I don’t know how this is possible,” he murmured, staring in awe at the female who had captured his heart so long ago. Even when he thought she’d died he hadn’t been able to let go of her. Now he was glad he hadn’t.
“That bondmate scent is strong. I don’t understand how it appeared all of a sudden.”
“Neither do I. It snapped before and I thought she was . . .” Yeah, he couldn’t say it. The only way bondmates were separated was in death. “But clearly she’s alive.” And he wasn’t questioning it. The link was firmly in place, he could feel himself tethered to Larissa in a way only bonded mates could be. And every supernatural being could scent their joining. Hell yeah, no males would even think about looking at his female now.
“I’m taking you to one of our out-of-town cabins. I wasn’t sure what the deal is with her and, no offense, whether she can be trusted. I want to make sure she gets inside before sunrise.”
“She’s a daywalker.” Aiden spoke before he could think to rein himself in. A proprietary, primitive urge to protect Larissa from everyone, including his Alpha, rose up inside him.
“Damn,” Connor muttered. “What bloodline is she from? Whose coven does she belong to and how long were you two bonded before . . . What the hell happened, man? How did your bondmate link reappear all of a sudden?” The last part was more of a statement than a question.
Aiden shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He loved his Alpha, but he wasn’t sure how much he should reveal about Larissa. Not when she was from one of the strongest lines. And not when he still had too many unanswered
questions about where she’d been the past sixty plus years. “She’s from a royal line and we were bonded for less than a month.” Though it had felt like an eternity.
The first time they’d met, he’d amused her with his arrogance. At least that’s what she’d told him later. She’d thought he was an obnoxious little pup and had planned to teach him a lesson in humility—until they’d kissed. The erotic dance between them had been earthy and raw. Days later under the full moon they’d been bonded.
Neither of their families had forgiven them, especially since it had been assumed she’d eventually mate with another strong vampire line. It had been hard for both of them, but harder for her at the rejection from her family. At five hundred years old she’d been entrenched in the politics and life of her coven. Not to mention she’d been the apple of her parents’ eye. They’d turned her out because of her choice of mate. Deep down he’d always wondered if she’d regretted bonding with him, or even resented him. He’d never felt anything through their link to indicate she did, but he’d lived with the fear.
Connor let out a curse. “She’s royalty? Are you fucking kidding me? What . . . ? How . . . ?” He let out another curse, this one more annoyed than angry. “When she wakes up we’ll talk and see about taking her back to the ranch. There’s a lot of shit going down that I need to figure out, and right now I can’t worry about a vamp’s presence there. Not with the cubs around,” he said almost apologetically.
It should have offended Aiden, but he understood. Connor was Alpha and had to look out for his entire pack, especially the cubs. He couldn’t just bring an unknown vampire into their midst even if she was Aiden’s bondmate. Not without knowing more about the situation.
He ran a hand over Larissa’s back, and cursed his shaking hand. He was terrified he’d wake up and find out this was all a dream. “How’s Natalia doing?” The sweet shifter was young and a little outspoken, but killing someone for the first time could be jarring.
“Okay. I’ve got Ryan running all the video he took to scan the faces of those who left and we also snagged recordings from the security room.”
“You know who owns the place?”
“Not yet but we’re working on it. I’ve already sent a couple of warriors to stake out the building, see if anyone shows up.”
Under normal circumstances Aiden would be more invested in what was going on, but with Larissa in his arms he found it hard to think about anything other than her. When she shifted against him, murmuring something under her breath, he froze.
She was waking up.
One of her elegant hands slid up his chest and wrapped around the back of his neck as she nuzzled the other side of his neck. His entire body shuddered at the contact and he had to force his body under control.
Unfortunately that was impossible.
Her hand slid back down his chest and her fingers curled against his skin when she suddenly froze and pulled her head back. Her indigo eyes met his with pure confusion. She looked at him, then Connor, then back at him. It wasn’t overt, but she scented the air, as if she was unsure what they were. Which didn’t make sense. She knew him.
“Larissa,” he whispered. “How are you feeling?”
“Who are you? Where am I?” She spoke in perfect English but with a slight lilting accent that couldn’t really be linked to any country.
When he’d met her she’d spoken twelve languages, English being one of them. Hearing her talk had always brought Aiden joy, but now she stared at him as if she didn’t know him. And he scented her fear.
True fear. Sharp and pungent. From the one female he’d do anything for. Would die for. And she was afraid of him. There was no acidic stench of a lie followed by her words either. She didn’t know who he was. Aiden felt as if he’d been gutted. “You don’t know me?”
Watching him warily, she slowly backed up until she was at the SUV door. “Should I?” She seemed to finally register his state of undress. “Why are you naked?” she shouted.
“Larissa, it’s me. Aiden—”
She moved with a wicked fast speed, turning and punching the whole door off the SUV. The metal groaned as it snapped off and slammed against the road with a sickening crunch behind them. Connor slammed on the brakes as Aiden lunged for her. She was too quick, diving out the door while they were still moving. She was a blur of movement, her hair fanning out behind her as she flew across the snowy embankment next to the highway and disappeared into the trees.
Aiden didn’t waste time. He dove from the vehicle and had gone wolf before his paws hit the snow.
* * *
Panic thrummed through Larissa as she raced through the forest. Trees and other foliage were a blur as she called on what little reserve of strength she had left. She was over five hundred and sixty years old but after sixty years in stasis she could feel the effects on her powers and even her body. Right now the cold actually affected her. Not much, but enough that she was aware of it and uncomfortable. That wasn’t normal for her. She desperately needed to feed again.
She tore through the snowy landscape, aware with every beat of her heart that she was being chased. She could feel him behind her, closing fast despite her supernatural speed. A few days ago a witch named Magda had discovered her buried deep in the Carpathian Mountains. Apparently Larissa had been put into stasis, a coma-like state that rendered her virtually dead, for her own protection. A shifter named Aiden had coveted her for his own, and when she’d rejected him he’d waged a war on her coven. Until he could be eliminated her parents had wanted her protected. Unfortunately she didn’t remember any of that. In fact, she couldn’t remember a lot of things.
All she knew was that her parents were dead and a shifter named Aiden had killed them. So if that shifter in that vehicle was the same Aiden, she wasn’t sticking around to let him attempt to hurt her. The male had been naked so she could only imagine his perverted intentions.
It seemed impossible that her parents were dead. Her mother had been strong, ancient, but her father—his power had been unimaginable. And Larissa couldn’t understand why she’d agreed to go into stasis. It didn’t make sense. She would have wanted to fight side by side with them.
But the witch hadn’t been lying. Larissa could sense lies in a way similar to how shifters could scent them. And the female had saved Larissa. Magda had even sent her to North Carolina to meet up with some vampires who knew about her parents’ killer.
Looked like he’d found her instead.
Though she hated running from any fight, she’d sensed the power from those two shifters and she wasn’t even close to top fighting form. Truth be told, she was barely hanging on to consciousness. Images from her past moved in and out of her memory bank like photographs, like she was dreaming while she was awake. Some images she remembered, some she didn’t. She had no idea what was real and what wasn’t. It was jarring, confusing, and more than anything, she was so incredibly hungry.
The witch had managed to get her bagged blood—a strange, new experience Larissa didn’t like—but not much. And Larissa hadn’t trusted herself to feed from humans once she’d arrived in the United States. She was too hungry and not quite in control of herself and she didn’t want to hurt anyone unnecessarily. She needed to drink supernatural blood. It was stronger and would help her gain control in a way weaker human blood couldn’t.
The wind whistled eerily around her as she continued running. She needed to come up with a plan, but first she had to put distance between herself and those shifters, then get in contact with Magda. Her friend would help her. Of course she would also have to figure out where the hell she was first. Because right now she had absolutely no clue.
A wolf howled in the distance, spurring her on faster. It was him.
That male.
She wasn’t sure how she knew it was him, but she did just as surely as she sensed him somewhere behind her. He was gaining on her and he was cl
ose. How did she even know that? No, she didn’t. She couldn’t. That was the fear and paranoia inside her. Right?
Slowing as she entered a clearing, Larissa looked in all directions. A small, frozen-over pond glistened under the moonlight, but there were only trees in every direction. Some were still green and full, but most were bare.
As she tried to decide where to go a blur of fur hurtled through the air at her. Before she could move, the all-white wolf slammed into her, tackling her to the ground. He rolled their bodies so he took the brunt of the fall.
Surprise ricocheted through her. When he shifted to human form and she found herself pinned underneath the Adonis-looking shifter with blond hair and dark eyes she immediately struck out at him. Weak or not, if this male had killed her parents she’d gut him.
Claws and fangs descended, she slashed at his middle, ripping open his stomach.
“Damn it, Larissa!” He managed to grab her wrists in an impossibly tight grip and hold them above her head, but she didn’t stop.
It vaguely registered that he said her name in a familiar way. As if he had intimate knowledge of her. Kicking and bucking against him, she kneed him hard between the legs as she twisted around to bite his forearm.
The second his blood coated her tongue, a familiar sensation flowed through her with shocking intensity. The taste made her think of raw, earthy sex. She stilled underneath him. He remained on top of her, holding her, and when she met his gaze she could sense his wariness. But he wasn’t trying to hurt her. And he hadn’t been attacking her, just pinning her down and taking her blows.
She tensed when she heard someone nearby, their footfalls soft against the snow, barely discernible. The male heard it too and lifted his head, but he never took his dark gaze from hers. “Stay back, I’ve got this.”
“Why do you taste familiar?” she whispered, battling confusion. His blood was still on her tongue and it made her think of dirty, sensual things that shocked her. Even more shocking, she wanted to drink from him.