by Leia Shaw
“If I tell you, will you let me go?”
Cristian bared his teeth. “Answer the question and death will be quick.”
Sweat beaded on the vampire’s brow. His black eyes darted around. He could see the hope in them diminishing by the second. He was crashing from the high of his latest kill.
Sorin had found the dying wolf only an hour ago. He’d mercifully killed then buried it, and mourned the loss of another of the endangered species. Of anyone in the pack, Sorin took the deaths the hardest, which was why the vampire currently had silver daggers in his hands. And for Sorin, that was downright nice. He must’ve had a small amount of pity for the young vamp.
Putting more power into his words, Cristian asked again, “Where is your friend?”
“Montana,” he answered, panting for breath. He reeked of fear. “There’s a coven there, just outside Glacier. They feed on the wolves but there aren’t as many.”
Cristian had wondered as much. Between illegal hunting and the increasing flow of vampires, the wolf population through the entire western half of the country suffered. He’d have to place a team up north until they stabilized again. “Thanks for the information. I’ll be paying your friend a visit.”
The vampire’s eyes widened as Cristian stood. “Are you going to let me go? I promise I won’t do it again. I’ll leave the state! I’ll go as far away…”
The pleas and promises continued when he walked away and grasped the silver sword Sorin handed him. He hated this part of the job, but it was a necessary evil. And as alpha, it was his responsibility to mete out justice.
The vampire gulped. Cristian drew the sword back past his shoulder then sliced it forward. Steel blurred and bit into the vampire's neck. The head fell to the ground. With a sigh, he turned back to his beta. “Take care of the body then assemble a team to go north –”
A familiar scent travelled on the breeze cutting off all train of thought. It was subtle, but there was no mistaking it. Red wine and on a deeper level, the same scent all vampires carried – blood. A smile touched his lips. Distractedly, he told Sorin, “A team. North. You know what to do.”
Sorin gave him a puzzled glare then inhaled a deep breath. “What is it?”
“Seems I have a date with a vampire.”
His beta scanned the trees, eyes narrowed with the focus of a hunter. “She’s close?” He called out to the two men standing guard near the vampire. “Dispose of that. Cristian and I are –”
“Just me.”
Sorin gave him a warning look. “Cris, that’s a bad idea. She got away from you once.”
“She won’t again.” He couldn’t wipe the smile away if he wanted to. The prospect of besting the slippery little thing was far too tempting to resist. What would he do when he caught her? He wanted to question her – find out who she was, what she was doing in his territory. Even more than that, he wanted to play with her, spar physically and verbally. He’d never felt so alive as when they’d had their little scuffle only days ago.
Damn it, Cristian. What are you thinking? This wasn’t a child’s game he played with a friend. This was a dangerous vampire. In his territory. Was she feeding on his wolves? He gave his head a shake. She hadn’t looked like the type. Well, he’d find out. Then he’d get his revenge for the other night before sending her on her way. And God help her if she drank from his wolves. “I’m going alone.”
“I think that’s a stupid –”
“I’m going alone,” he said firmly. He hated pulling rank with Sorin. But he knew, ultimately, he’d respect his orders.
Sorin gave him another look that said clearly what he thought of Cristian’s plan then nodded and stepped aside.
Without another word, Cristian slipped into the trees, following the scent eagerly. He didn’t shift. Just in case – though it was unlikely – she managed to evade him again, the last thing he wanted was to wake up naked after several hours of lying in the cold of a northern Wyoming night.
He traveled five miles, stripping any metal and hiding it in the trees as he went. He wasn’t sure how far away her power could reach but he wasn’t taking any chances. Phone, knives, belt – all of it gone.
An hour later, he approached her weaponless and had to bite back a smile. So he wasn’t the only enemy she’d made around here?
Her head snapped up when he emerged from the trees and into the small clearing. “Are you stalking me?”
Hanging by her wrists from a tree and still cocky? “I think I like you this way.”
The rope had been tied tight around both wrists and slung over a thick, overhanging tree branch on the other side of the clearing. Damn she looked good, bound and helpless. With a smirk that would make her hackles rise, he circled her outstretched form. It was hard to look arrogantly disinterested with a raging hard-on, but he sure tried. She was tall for a woman, but still several inches shorter than a male werewolf. Contoured muscle was visible through her tight leather pants. This was no fragile flower. No, she was a warrior.
Now, why did that turn him on? He was an alpha. Dominant. His mate, Laurel, had been opposite in every way. All feminine curves, sweet and docile.
He walked around her, his gaze glued to her round ass. He narrowly avoided a blow to the ribs by a booted foot. No, there was nothing sweet or docile about this Huntress.
“No metal?” she asked.
He stepped in front again and showed his teeth. “I never make the same mistake twice.”
Unable to stop himself, he stroked his hand up her thigh, edging toward her firm backside. She kicked at him and he jumped back with a chuckle.
“Behave, Talia. Or I won’t help you down.”
She narrowed her eyes. “You haven’t earned the right to call me Talia. Or any nickname for that matter. And I don’t need your help.”
“Really?” He stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest. “I can’t wait to see this.”
Her eyes glazed over as she stared into the trees. He didn’t scent any of her weapons nearby. There was nothing for miles but trees and open plains. But she had that same look in her eye as when she’d formed a shiv out of his belt buckle and lodged it into his spine. Unnerved, he shifted his weight then rechecked his body for metal. There was none.
Confident again, he cleared his throat. “While you’re working on that miracle, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”
Her gaze remained focused on her target, though he had no idea what it was. “You don’t seem like the type to ask permission for anything.”
“I’m not. So you realize the exception I’m making for you.” He smiled and fought back the urge to touch her again. “Especially when I have the perfect opportunity to interrogate you in –” he raked his gaze over her body “ – other ways.”
He liked her restrained, arms over head. It made her firm breasts jut out, almost spilling over her low cut black tank top. If he had his way, he’d leave her tied up, strip her, throw her legs over his shoulders and –
“An exception, is it? For me? I’m honored.” She struggled a bit, adjusting her body under the pressure of her weight.
“I’m beginning to think it won’t be hard to kill you after all.”
Her gaze flew to his face and she snorted. “Figures. That’s the thanks I get for sparing your life?”
He took a step closer, careful to stay clear of any swinging legs. “Why did you?”
Her gaze dropped to the ground and for a fleeting moment, she looked unguarded. “Hell if I know,” she muttered then raised her chin and focused back on the tree. “Came back to bite me on the ass, didn’t it?”
He grinned. “I’d love to bite you on the ass. Are you giving me permission?”
She tossed him a bored look. “You only get one get-out-of-jail-free card with me, wolf, and you already used it. Touch my ass with your teeth, or any other body part, and I’ll kill you.”
He loved that she didn’t growl or yell the threat. She said it as dispassionately as if she’d been reading a
weather report. But still, how could he resist such an obvious loophole in her warning? He picked up a thin stick, stepped around her, and rapped her on the backside. Just once, and only hard enough to make his point.
After her body jerked and a small gasp escaped her lips, she inhaled a deep breath and looked up to the sky, as if she were praying to the gods for patience. Any vampire or werewolf – or woman, for that matter – would have been aghast, slinging insults, threats, and showing fang.
But Talia merely exhaled a sigh and gave him a look that said, “Really? That childish, are we?”
He laughed out loud before he could stop himself.
“Got that out of your system?”
He looked at the stick in his hand. This was too much fun. “I don’t know.” He swung it through the air, smiling at the whooshing sound. “We’ll see.”
She rolled her eyes. “I amend my former statement. Touch my ass with anything, and I will personally slit your throat.” Her eyes lit up with an icy hunger.
Could it be that the only thing she was passionate about was violence?
“But I won’t kill you,” she continued. “No, I’ll leave you to bleed out here in the cold. It will take you a full day to heal and by that time, your dick will have fallen off from frostbite.”
He nodded, undisturbed by her gruesome warning. “Good thing I wore my long underwear.”
“I’ll take them off.” She shifted her attention back to the trees.
“So now you’re going to slit my throat, strip me, and then leave me in the cold? Is that right?” He circled her again. He liked the way she twisted her body to keep him away from her back.
“Yes.” Impatience flared in her eyes. “Look, don’t bother me with petty details. Just assume I’ll do something very painful and violent if you touch me again.” She cut him off when he opened his mouth to speak. “With any object, body part, or otherwise.”
“Well, I just want to be clear, Natalia, about what will happen to me…when I do this.” He reared back with the stick and she flinched.
There might’ve been a glimmer of anger under that controlled exterior when she saw his mocking grin. “Fuck you. I’m done with this conversation.” She flexed her arms, taking the pressure off her joints. She had to be in pain yet not a single ounce of strain showed on her face.
“You sure you don’t want help?”
“Shut up so I can concentrate.”
Not one to take orders by vampires hanging from trees, he asked, “If you’re not here for the wolves’ blood, why are you here?”
“I’m tracking the Silver Slayer.”
“The what?”
“You don’t know?” She narrowed her eyes and looked him over. “Why is a pack of werewolves working as park rangers? Aren’t you supposed to be in the Underworld?”
Tied up and helpless, again, and trying to interrogate him? He bit back a smile. She had balls of steel. But did she have the skill to back it up? He had a feeling she did.
“Not all werewolves pledged their allegiance to the Dark King.” Cristian had never been to the Underworld – a plane halfway between earth and hell – where most of his kind lived. In fact, many of his pack had come bearing tales of a sorcerer turned vampire gone mad with lust for power. Cristian stayed away from supernatural politics. Witches, sorcerers, fae, even dragons, hid in the shadows of the human world, unseen by the untrained eye.
Natalia glared at him. “The werewolves living Topside work for the Sorcerers instead. It’s no better. Hired to do their dirty work. Even dogs should have some self-respect.”
Anger flared and he dropped the stick before he truly harmed her. He took a few deep breaths before replying. “You dare cast stones when you look and act the part of a mercenary so well?”
“It’s different. I kill dangerous rogues.”
Ah, now it’s clear. When he’d shot her with the poison arrow a few days ago, he’d merely been protecting a fellow werewolf from a common enemy. The werewolf, in lupus form, wasn’t part of his pack, but when it came to life or death, he acted first and asked questions later. Once he had Natalia tied up, he recognized her from a photo a messenger had brought by years ago. The Huntress was a wanted assassin, the bounty high because the Magistrate wanted the payment of her sins in blood.
The werewolves that remained Topside lived mostly in Europe and were governed by a Magistrate that called himself, Judge Alpha. It was he who offered the bounty for Natalia’s capture. He was a typical crooked politician but more lethal because, in the supernatural world, might made right. And their government system was less about equality and democracy, and more about teeth and claws.
He’d considered, briefly, trading her for the bounty – a couple new generators and another ranger jeep would’ve been nice – but instead he’d insisted on hearing her side of the story. Damned bleeding heart. “Who are you to decide who should live or die? Are you God?”
She gave him a sideways glance. “There is no God. Only the sick motherfuckers who think they are. They sit in their heavens, making catastrophic decisions based on their fickle moods. Playing with fate. Manipulating the tides of time.”
A cynic. How pleasant. Still, his interest piqued. Who did she work for? Why did she hate his kind? It’d been a long time since he had a good mystery to unravel. “You almost sound bitter. Are you unhappy with the lot you’ve been given?”
“I’m not unhappy. And I’m not bitter. I’m not –” she seemed to struggle with the right word “ – anything.”
“I can see that.” Too clearly. Was there no redemption for her? He thought he’d seen a flicker of…something, earlier. Life? Hope? Maybe he was wrong. After a sigh, he told her, “My pack protects the gray wolf population from human hunters and from vampires.”
“Why vampires?”
“The wolves’ blood makes them stronger. It’s addictive, like a drug.”
Her forehead creased. “Really?”
She didn’t show any visible effects of getting high on the wolves’ blood. No, quite the opposite. She was focused, clear-headed. But just to be sure, he narrowed his eyes and asked, “Now why do you look intrigued at the thought?”
“I’m not intrigued. I’m just thinking how this changes things.”
He took a step closer. “You’re going to explain what these things are, but first…” He wrapped an arm around her hips, holding her tight against his body so she couldn’t kick him, then said in a warning tone, “If I find out you have something to do with leaking information about my wolf population, vampire, I will beat you bloody.”
She arched a brow. “Charming. Does that work on all the ladies?”
“You’re no ordinary lady.”
She wriggled in his arms and he held her a moment longer before letting go. “You’re right.” Her eyes tightened, her nostrils flared then something flew past him and through the top of the rope. Natalia dropped to the ground, landing gracefully on her feet. She looked at him. “I’m not an ordinary vampire either.”
Her fangs slid down and she bit through the rope, shaking it loose from her wrists.
“What was that?” he asked, picking the rope up off the ground and studying it. It was frayed where it had broken, like it’d been cut.
She stooped in a low crouch, eyeing him up and down suspiciously.
Instinct had him crouching defensively as well. “I’m not here to hurt you.”
She arched a brow. “You don’t want to capture me for the bounty?”
He stood to his full height and put his hands up in a peaceful gesture. “If I wanted to do that, don’t you think I would have by now?”
She straightened and sighed. “All right. Truce?”
He couldn’t stop a smile. Truce with a vampire? Sorin would kill him. He nodded. “Truce.”
Natalia turned around and walked into the shadowy forest, studying the ground as she went.
Cristian followed her. “How did you break the rope?”
“A bullet. They’re embedded in
the trees,” she answered and squatted down, picking up leaves and sniffing them. “Probably from hunting.” She looked at him over her shoulder. “Told you I didn’t need any help.”
He chuckled. “Damn, woman, I like the way you work.”
One side of her mouth lifted in what could possibly have passed for a fleeting smile. She stood and walked to the opposite side of the clearing.
“Tell me about this killer. What did you call him? The Silver…”
“Slayer. I’ve been hunting him for thirteen months. He’s smart and usually works alone. When I get too close, he hires mercenaries to take me out. Obviously it hasn’t worked.”
“Yet.”
Hardened eyes stared at him. “Ever.”
Though she was strong and an exceptional fighter, the idea of her chasing a dangerous criminal didn’t sit well with him. As an alpha, it was in his nature to take care of what was his. Now, his body and his mind were at odds about what, or who, that included. In his head, he knew a vampire assassin was in no way his. But his body… Well, let’s just say it strongly protested. The protest came in the form of anxious knots in his stomach and what seemed to be a permanent hard-on.
He cleared his throat. “So what does he do, this slayer?”
“He’s a serial killer.”
His brow furrowed. “And he’s here? In Wyoming? In my territory?”
“Yes.”
Fury seeped into Cristian’s blood, heated it until he almost lost control and shifted. A low growl started in his chest.
She stopped and gazed up at him. “I haven’t even told you the worst part. He steals children.”
Children? Fuck! Claws extended from his fingertips, biting into palms where he clenched his fists. Grasping control as best as he could, he grated, “Does he kill them?”
She nodded.
With a deep breath he whispered, “Only kill them?”
She swallowed hard then averted her gaze. But not before he saw a flicker of sadness. She shook her head.
He closed his eyes and counted to ten, able to calm down with promises to kill the fucker. “How do you know he’s here?”
“Trust me. I know.” She looked up at the sky then turned in a circle, inhaling as she moved.