Wolf Undaunted

by Shannon Curtis

  “Well, I figure vamps do this differently, but in a pack, there is a form of succession for the alpha. The closest relative, or even scions, if they’re old enough, can lobby for alpha prime position, but they have to defeat any challengers in order to ascend to the position.”

  “But you were only just pregnant with your son at the time of Jared’s death—how does that work?”

  Samantha smiled sadly. “It was because I was pregnant that I couldn’t be challenged. Now, everyone just accepts it. I have the support of my guardian prime, and his loyalty and acceptance have influenced the pack.”

  “You’re the first female alpha prime I know of,” Vivianne said and turned to look out at the crowd. “None of them seem to want to challenge you.”

  “Not yet,” Samantha acceded. “But later...who knows. What about you?”

  Zane glanced about, and then neatly turned to lean against an indent in the wall, hiding himself from view from most of the room—and the two women.

  He shouldn’t be eavesdropping. Not on his alpha prime, not on Vivianne...but he couldn’t deny the desire to know more about Vivianne. He’d gotten to know her very well during the time he’d been ‘stuck’ with her. He’d seen her in action with her underlings, with various members of her colony, with her father... The only person she came anywhere near opening up to was the sister-in-law, and even then she was guarded. Right now, though, it seemed her guard was down with Samantha in a way he’d never seen before.

  “My father was our prime for so long...but he didn’t die, he stepped down from the position in order to enter the senate. He nominated me as his successor.”

  “Did you have to prove your worth?”

  Zane peered around the outcropping in time to see Vivianne’s features tighten.

  “Yes,” she said quietly. “My father’s guardian prime thought I was too young, too inexperienced, for the position. And a female.”

  “What has that got to do with anything?” Samantha exclaimed.

  Vivianne smiled. “It’s a little different for us, Samantha. We vampires have lived for generations, and many of the older vamps come from a time when women were treated as less valuable as the men—weaker. We have to learn to live with that attitude.”

  Zane frowned. Did Vivianne subscribe to that point of view? His gaze wandered around the room. Alpine had many women in the position of guardian, and recognized strength and power in all of its forms, included the feminine one. All you had to do was watch a she-wolf defend her young, and you never again made the assumption that the female lycan was weaker than a male. At least, not if you wanted to keep your gonads.

  “You won.”

  “Yeah, I won.”

  The baby snuffled, and Vivianne’s head tilted as she eyed the child. “He’s beautiful.”

  Samantha looked at her for a moment. “Would you like to hold him?”

  Zane almost laughed at the stunned look on Vivianne’s face. “Oh, no,” she said, shaking her head. “I couldn’t—”

  “Sure you could,” Samantha said and stood to lean over the table, handing the baby to Vivianne.

  Vivianne received the baby awkwardly. “Uh, I don’t know how to—”

  “Support his head with your arm,” Samantha told her gently, positioning them both with care. “See, nothing to it.” Samantha waved away the guardians, who’d all stepped forward.

  Zane couldn’t look away. Vivianne’s face was full of wonder, full of something so warm, so gentle—the expression was completely alien on the vampire prime’s face. Tender. That’s it. Like she was cherishing the moment, cherishing holding a babe.

  “Oh, my God,” Vivianne whispered, “I’m holding a baby.”

  Samantha nodded. “Yeah, you are.”

  Vivianne swallowed. “Is he—is he okay?”

  Zane almost looked away, so unsure, so vulnerable did Vivianne sound, it was almost an intrusion to witness it.

  “He’s fine.” Samantha’s brow dipped with curiosity. “Have you ever wanted one of your own?”

  Vivianne’s lips rubbed inward as she shook her head, her focus on J.J. asleep in her arms. “It’s impossible,” she said in a whisper. “You can’t create life out of death.”

  “That’s not what I asked,” Samantha pointed out.

  Vivianne glanced up at the woman, and Zane saw her eyes go luminous with what he almost thought were unshed tears, before she blinked furiously. “Uh, I was turned before—before I gave it any real thought. Now, it’s not possible.”

  This time Zane looked away. He didn’t think she realized how much raw pain she’d revealed, the wistfulness, the regret... That was when he noticed the hush that had fallen over the hall, as the pack warily watched the vampire holding the Alpine scion in her arms.

  As though finally realizing they were the center of attention, Vivianne glanced about, then leaned over to hand the baby back to his mother. “Thank you,” she whispered. She stood up and picked up her red ski jacket that she’d draped over the arm of the chair. “I, uh, have to be getting back,” she said, jerking a thumb over her shoulder.

  Samantha eyed her intently. “We won’t forget this, Vivianne.”

  Vivianne opened her mouth. Hesitated. Then shook her head. “I wish you would.” She cleared her throat. “I, uh, have to go. I trust someone can escort me to your boundary?”

  “Yes, but it’s nearly daylight,” Samantha said, glancing at her watch.

  “Then I’ll need to hurry,” Vivianne said. Samantha eyed her for a moment, then nodded. She glanced over to one of the guardians nearby.

  “Warwick, please escort the Marchetta Prime to the Nightwing boundary.”

  The guardian nodded and proceeded to lead Vivianne from the hall. Vivianne waved casually to Dave, who raised his mug of beer before taking a swig. The witch grinned beneath his sunglasses. He was happy to stay a little longer. Vivianne nodded, then left the hall.

  Zane frowned. That was it? She was leaving without even saying goodbye?

  Hell, no. He jogged after her.

  Chapter 10

  “Vivianne, wait.”

  Vivianne glanced over her shoulder. Zane bounded up to her. He’d showered and changed before joining the party in the hall. Now he wore jeans with a dark gray T-shirt. And he looked great. Tall, fit...not dead. Who knew undead could look so damn sexy? He nodded to the tall werewolf charged with seeing her out of Alpine territory.

  “I’ll take her from here, Warwick.”

  The lycan frowned. “Are you sure you’re up for it? Maybe you should take it ea—”

  “I’ll take her,” Zane repeated, his voice firm.

  Warwick shrugged. “Fine by me.” He shot her a brief look, and he wore an expression of thinly veiled distaste.

  “I have to go,” she told Zane, turning to walk farther down the tunnel. Samantha had been decent, and Nate, too, although she got the impression he would still smile politely at her as he ripped her throat out if she so much as blinked wrong at his alpha prime, or her baby. Everyone else, though, had made their wariness, their antipathy, quite clear. She glanced about. Tunnels intersected the main channel regularly, going off in all directions. No wonder they escorted visitors to and from. This place was a rabbit warren inside the mountain. She started to walk briskly. It wouldn’t be dark outside for much longer, and she needed to get off the mountain before the sun rose. “I need to get down to shelter before sun up.”

  And she had to get out of here. Out of this pack den, where the sense of family was enough to nauseate any self-respecting vampire.

  Or make them writhe in envy.

  “Without saying goodbye?” Zane asked quietly.

  Vivianne glanced up at him, surprised. “I would have thought you’d be happy to see the back of me.” It wasn’t long after they’d left the mortuary cave that Nate and Samantha had insisted he go to his
quarters to “refresh.” He’d returned to the main hall, but had largely avoided going anywhere near her during the celebrations.

  Not that she’d cared. Not really. She expected that—he’d made it abundantly clear how torturous, frustrating, annoying, hellish, etc., it was being trapped with her. It made sense he’d tried to stay away. She wasn’t offended. Much. She frowned at the little shard of hurt that lanced her.

  “Well, I have to say, I’m relieved to be back in my own skin, instead of yours.”

  Her frown deepened. Why? Was her “skin” so repulsive?

  Zane looked at her for a moment, and his brow dipped. “I mean, it’s nice having others see me, hear me.”

  And not be stuck with just her. Double ouch. She lifted a hand.

  “I get it, Zane, you’re happy to be rid of me. Just show me the quickest way out of here, and we can pretend this didn’t happen.”

  Zane pulled her to a stop. “That’s not what I meant, Vivianne.”

  She glanced down at his hand on her arm. He was touching her, again. Really touching her. His skin was golden brown, his grasp warm, strong. Tempting. All this time he’d been a shadow on the edge of her vision, a voice inside her head, and more recently, an apparition who made her doubt her sanity. Now, though, she could feel him. And he felt surprisingly good.

  She glanced up at him. Everything about him seemed so much more vibrant, so much warmer. His skin, his brown eyes with shards of green that had glowed so beautifully when they’d kissed earlier...the dark dusting of beard that seemed to enhance his jawline rather than hide it...

  What the hell was it about this guy that so caught her? He was a werewolf. The natural enemy of the vampire. She should be repelled by him, not drawn to him. And yet, here she was, supremely conscious that she was alone with this sexy man in a dim tunnel, and wanted to—what? Touch him? Kiss him? Hang on to the man before he disappeared from her life forever?

  “What did you mean?” She tried to remain calm, poised, like the head of the wealthiest, most successful vampire colony in Irondell she was, and not be the eager, starry-eyed woman she was fearing she was turning into.

  “I wanted to say that I’m relieved I’m alive, and I have you to thank for that. What you did for me, Vivianne...” Zane shook his head. “I know it wasn’t easy, coming here—alone—to return me to my pack. Especially after what happened with Rafe.” He dipped his head and seemed to realize he was still holding on to her. He rubbed his thumb over her arm, and her heart beat just that little bit faster. Was it getting warm in here?

  “I guess what I’m trying to say is, thank you.” The words were uttered so simply, so sincerely, it took her a moment to recover. “Why don’t you stay a little longer? As you said, the sun will be up soon, and you’re really going to have to race to beat it. You’re welcome to stay here for the day, and I’ll make sure you get back down the mountain this evening.”

  She stared at him for a moment, shocked. Stay? Here? In a den? With him?

  She was stunned by the invitation. Tempted. So very tempted... More time with Zane.

  Samantha was nice, too—surprisingly. As an alpha prime of a pack and a vampire prime of a colony, they’d discovered a few things in common when it came to asserting their leadership position, about ensuring their people were provided for and the challenges they faced as women in their positions. She’d never had that before. She was the only lady prime in Irondell, and her issues were vastly different to her male counterparts. Sure, there were female coven leaders, but she dealt with the witches only when it was absolutely necessary, and only as adversaries. Samantha was a werewolf, but Vivianne got the sense that if but for that one key, critical difference, they could have been friends.

  And then there was J.J. She swallowed. He was cute. Too cute. Holding his warm, cuddly little body had stirred something deep and long forgotten inside her. She knew she gave the impression of being cold and ruthless—and she had that reputation for good reason. She’d shoved aside any inclination, any desire or yearning for a family centuries ago, when she’d learned that being a vampire meant one couldn’t bring forth life from a dead shell. She’d learned to deal with it, to get over it and move on, but for the briefest of moments, when she’d seen the baby suckle at his mother’s breast, when she’d held the sleeping babe in her arms, she’d had a painful, agonizing need awaken inside her.

  She shook her head. “No, I have to go.” If she stayed, she’d want things she’d never, ever have, a fruitless exercise in self-torture and frustration. She had to get back to her own kind, reconnect with her colony and put all these silly little fantasies to bed. She’d left Harris snoozing in the parking lot back at the Galen clinic. Nobody knew she was here. Not only was that incredibly risky—what if one of these lycans decided to act against the conditions of parlay, and bite her, or kill her outright? Nobody would know, her colony would lose its prime and have no idea how, why or who. She shouldn’t have trusted these people. She shouldn’t have trusted Zane. How could she explain this brief excursion with the lycans to her people? To her father?

  “I have to get back home.”

  Zane’s grip loosened, and he withdrew his hand. “Back to your father.”

  She nodded. Back to where she wasn’t plagued by a desire for family and babies and a brown-eyed lycan who knew her too well.

  “Help me put a stop to his project.”

  It wasn’t a question. Vivianne frowned. “No.” She started to walk through the tunnel. “How can you even ask me that?”

  “How can I ask you that? Vivianne, he intends to pass a bill through the senate that will allow vampires to bag and tag werewolves, to kill them...”

  She shook her head. “You do realize that is pretty much already in effect? If I had not invoked parlay, what do you think Nate would have done with me when he found me at the cliff?”

  “You would have been trespassing.”

  “Exactly. You don’t think you werewolves have killed vampires before for trespassing? Every breed has some sovereign rights over the territory within their borders.”

  “Killing trespassers is one thing, but abducting them, holding them against their will for God-only-knows how long and subjecting them to torturous experiments is not permitted.”

  Vivianne’s lips tightened. “You sound so high-and-mighty, Zane, as if you and your kind have never done anything heinous against vampires, or any of the other breeds.”

  “Hey, we’ll fight, and we’ll kill, but those fights are fair.”

  She turned on him, her eyes glowing with anger. “Don’t kid yourself, Zane,” she snapped. “You lycans have done plenty to hurt us vampires. You think this hate,” she said, gesturing between them, “just grew in a vacuum?”

  His chin jutted forward. “What your father is proposing is wrong.”

  She started walking again. The tunnel was descending, and she could see an opening where the background was slightly lighter than the walls surrounding it. Alpine didn’t light their entrances. No wonder it was so difficult locating the pack. Their caves were black holes against dark walls.

  “What do you expect me to do, Zane?”

  “Stop him.”

  She shot him an incredulous look. “You want me to go against my father?” She shook her head in disbelief.

  Zane frowned. “Of course.”

  She paused at the lip of the cave and looked out. The stars were slowly disappearing from the night sky, and she could see a band of indigo light against the midnight black of the horizon. There was a hush over the landscape, and despite the darkness, the snow grabbed at any light it could and reflected it, creating a quiet, wintery scene of white carpet and capped mountains. If she wasn’t so annoyed, so irritated, she’d take a moment to appreciate the view. Alpine had constant snow. Down in Irondell spring had...sprung. But not here. It was a testament to the Alpine’s pack strength and determination to sur
vive in such an inhospitable area. They could even defy death, apparently.

  She turned to the lycan who had done just that. Did he have any idea how amazing that was? How incredible? And he wanted her to now turn on her family. “Believe it or not, Zane, werewolves don’t have an exclusive claim on loyalty, or family, or honor. We vampires live for centuries, and we take our oaths of allegiance very seriously.”

  Zane’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve seen how you and your ‘loyal subjects’ treat your oaths. You’re always having to prove yourself. After all these years, you have men who want your role, who want that prime position, and you are constantly fending them off, defending your right to be there.”

  She slid her arms into her jacket and pulled the zipper up, her movements tight and jerky. “You think your own pack doesn’t have its power play moments?”

  She smiled tightly. “You forget one thing, Zane. Nightwing is one of the few vampire colonies that is ruled by a family. We haven’t just drifted toward each other and decided to forge a colony. We are family. We may not have the perfect relationship, we might bicker among ourselves, but when it comes down to it, we are family, and we have each other’s backs. I will not betray my father, so don’t ask me to do it again.”

  “Even if what he’s doing is so wrong it makes you sick to your stomach?”

  She smiled tightly. “What makes you think I’m sickened by his plan?”

  Zane’s hands were on her arms, her back against the rock wall before she could blink. Her eyes brightened, and her incisors lengthened instinctively.

  “You might think you’ve fooled everyone, Vivianne, but I’ve lived with you for months,” he told her, his voice low. “I know how you like to relax by dancing in your bedroom with the curtains closed, that you always go for men when you hunt because going after a human woman isn’t a fair fight in your eyes, that you’ll see an opportunity in business and seize it, but when it comes to dealing with your own kind you’re tough, but fair, and that you are turning yourself inside out trying to please everyone, especially your father.” She shook her head, but he continued.