A Thousand Years Dead [Pine Falls 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour)

by Ashley Malkin

  “I was going to save that piece of the story for last.” Sean mumbled an apology again.

  “Why don’t you just tell us what happened?” Caleb said. “I’m just as curious as Kaitlyn to hear why Doc gave her vampire blood.”

  “Kaitlyn’s reaction to her severe blood loss was more akin to the way a vampire reacts than a shifter,” Aiden said. “We don’t heal from such extreme loss, where as a shifter would. Kaitlyn was obviously a shifter, as she was in panther form at the time.”

  “So you gave her blood to test your theory,” Caleb said. “Did it need to be your blood?”

  “No, but as my mate I preferred it be mine or Sean’s.”

  Sean had reached his patience threshold. “I’ve had it. You’ve said all this before and I still have no idea what you’re talking about. Tell me what’s going on. Please.” He’d dropped Kaitlyn’s hand and stood up. He was prepared to strangle Doc if he didn’t start explaining things.

  “Kaitlyn is a hybrid,” Doc said. “She is the result of a mating between a panther and a vampire.”

  * * * *

  Kaitlyn hadn’t seen that coming. Of all the things she’d had running through her brain, that was not one of them. That would never have been one of them. She was a shifter. She’d behaved exactly like a shifter her entire life.

  “I can’t be,” was all she managed to say.

  “I think we’ve had this conversation before, my mate,” Aiden murmured in her ear. They had, too, when he’d been sure his mate wasn’t a shifter. Apparently he was right after all.

  “No, my heart, I was wrong. You are my mate no matter what.”

  “It was not only your reaction to blood loss, Kaitlyn,” Aiden said. His reassurance had been just what she needed. She felt calmer. “Your reaction to the mind control the vampires put you under was also unusual.”

  “Mind control?” Caleb and his brothers asked as one.

  “Vampires can both read and control the minds of humans,” Jason said. “They compel them to forget the vampire ever fed from them. It’s how they’ve remained a myth through the ages. It’s really a fantastic evolutionary advantage.”

  “Fantastic,” Prescott said. “Are we even going to remember this conversation?”

  “We can hear the thoughts of shifters but are unable to affect their minds in any significant way. They would fight instead of simply allowing us to feed, thus necessitating their incapacitation and death.”

  “I imagine our dual natures are to blame for that,” Jason said.

  “Indeed,” said Lachlan. “So humans are easier prey, and you also have no bodies to hide.”

  Kaitlyn couldn’t believe they were discussing vampire feeding habits so calmly. “I obeyed them. My body did what they said.” Kaitlyn shuddered and tried to push the attack out of her mind. “But I was fully aware of everything they did, and I remembered it despite them telling me it never happened. So my being this hybrid was the cause of my weird reaction.”

  “That sounds truly horrifying, Kaitlyn,” Caleb said. She looked up and saw kindness and compassion in his eyes. She could only nod at him. Her throat felt thick as she remembered the panic she’d felt throughout her attack.

  Aiden caressed her cheeks with his fingers and she frowned at the dampness there. “But if vampires don’t feed from shifters, why did they feed from me?”

  “I know this part,” Sean said quietly. He reached for her and she scrambled willingly into his lap. “Unfortunately, you carry no shifter scent. You’re more like a vampire, which carry no scent at all.”

  “My father knew. He had to know all of this. He never told me that my mother was a vampire.” The realization that her father had withheld this fact from her had her reeling. Her relationship with her father was a sham. They’d never been part of a leap because he was ashamed of her.

  “That’s a conversation you need to have with him, baby,” Sean said. He moved her hair aside and kissed her neck softly. She shuddered, the tingling contact spreading welcome heat through her chilled body. “We can invite him to come up here anytime you like.”

  “Were you previously aware that our races were biologically compatible, Aiden?” Jason asked, drawing her eyes back to Aiden. She had been the lone witness to his reaction at discovering she was his mate. He had not known.

  “No, Jason.” Aiden addressed his answer to Jason, but he was looking right at her. “I have been alive more than a millennium and I have never heard of such a mating.”

  “You’re a thousand years old?” She clapped her hand over her mouth and lowered her head before glancing up at Caleb through her lashes. She hadn’t meant to shriek, she was just so surprised.

  “Apparently your cat knows exactly how to behave around an Alpha, Kaitlyn,” Caleb said, his smile wide. He then made her laugh when he turned and bellowed at Aiden, “You’re a thousand years old?”

  “Yes, yes. He’s old and he reads minds,” Jason said. “He also runs so fast a shifter can’t see him move and is stronger than superman. But consider this. There could be more hybrids like Kaitlyn in the world.”

  Kaitlyn didn’t know whether to look at Jason or Aiden, and neither did anyone else. The Mabry brothers were looking from one to the other with their mouths slightly open.

  “We really need to have a talk about all your superpowers, Aiden,” Sean said, his laughter barely suppressed. “Are you sure you don’t turn into a bat?”

  She elbowed Sean in the stomach as she waited for Aiden’s answer. She had lots of questions about Aiden.

  “You can ask me anything, my mate. I would never lie to you, even if I were able to.”

  “We can’t lie to mates either,” Kaitlyn said. “Or shifters can’t. But if vampires can’t either, then I guess I can’t. Argh.” She felt like her head was going to explode.

  “You’re sweet, baby,” Sean said, kissing her neck again. “Don’t worry. We have lots of time to get to know each other.”

  Caleb cleared his throat and drew her attention back to him. “I think we need to discuss what sort of a threat to the pride the vampires pose.”

  “Aiden won’t hurt anyone,” Kaitlyn said. She didn’t want them to take him away. Her cat’s hackles rose, making her shiver. “He brought me here to save me.”

  “Thank you, Kaitlyn. Your protectiveness is a gift I feel I don’t yet deserve, but nonetheless makes me beyond happy.”

  She looked at him and saw his eyes were now glowing red, his face shining with his happiness and more. His raw desire. Her pussy clenched in response and her cheeks heated in embarrassment as the mating musk poured from her.

  Sean growled softly and held her tight to his chest. “I want to kiss you so badly right now,” he said, nipping at her neck.

  Caleb cleared his throat again, but Kaitlyn was too mortified to look at him again. There are shifters here, Kaitlyn. Control your damn self. The control she’d always exercised wasn’t stopping the mating musk.

  “Sorry, Kaitlyn, I should have been more specific. Aiden, do you think the vampires that attacked Kaitlyn are going to pose a threat to the pride?”

  Chapter 9

  “Most definitely. They not only expect Kaitlyn to be at work Monday morning, they plan on feeding from her on a regular basis.” Aiden reached out and took his precious mate’s hand. “That is never going to happen, Kaitlyn.”

  “Are your tracking abilities normal for vampires,” Jason said, “or are you just gifted in that area?”

  “No. My skills are the norm for my race, blood trails being the easiest.” Aiden looked at Kaitlyn’s pale face. “They have tasted her blood. They will be able to track her around the globe.”

  “So hiding is out,” Caleb said. “What do we need to learn in order to protect Kaitlyn? As Sean’s mate, she is now a member of my pride.” He looked from Sean to Aiden and smiled. “As are you, Aiden.”

  “Thank you, Alpha. I am honored for the protection you offer my mate.” Aiden had spent a thousand years keeping the secrets of his race. Va
mpires threatening his mate meant he wouldn’t hesitate in helping these shifters protect her. If he was killed, he needed to know that Sean and his pride could keep her safe.

  “Vampires are weakened by blood loss, but will die if they lose their heads.” He felt Kaitlyn squeeze his hand and any guilt vanished. He would die for her. “We are fast, strong and carry no scent, but take our heads and we cease to exist.”

  “Thank you, Aiden,” Lachlan said. He tapped his finger on his chin. “But you’re wrong. You carry a scent.”

  “I can only scent Aiden’s emotions, otherwise he carries no scent that I can detect,” Sean said. He leaned toward Aiden and breathed deeply. “Nothing.”

  “My mate detected his scent when he was in Eminence last month,” Jason said. “We’d have missed it if she hadn’t pointed it out, though.”

  “He smells like potted flowers,” Lachlan said. “Faintly floral with the scent of earth mixed in. If it had been spring instead of winter, I might have missed it.”

  Aiden stood and walked to the Mabry brothers. They each detected his scent now that Lachlan had described it. It seemed that vampires carried a barely-discernible scent, not none at all, as his race believed. Cats were an interesting race of shifter.

  “Our pride is a little unusual,” Caleb said. “It is comprised of other shifters as well as cats. My father describes my pride as a menagerie. It would be helpful if you came into town tomorrow and allowed the other assorted members of our pride to meet you and familiarize themselves with a vampire’s scent.”

  “That’s a great idea,” Sean said. “Why don’t we meet at the tavern at eight tomorrow night?”

  “It’s big enough to hold everyone, and they sell beer. Perfect,” Prescott said.

  Aiden had to contain his smile at the look Caleb gave his younger brother.

  “I need to get back to Eminence,” Jason said. Aiden knew Jason’s mate was pregnant, and the man was desperate to get back to her now that he was finished here. “Have you found a shifter doctor for the town yet, Caleb?”

  “We’re actually hopeful that we’ve found one. He’s from a sloth that the fire chief, Brayden, knows.”

  Jason was thanked by everyone and then Aiden and Kaitlyn said good-bye to the Alpha and his brothers. Aiden took Kaitlyn into the living room as Sean discussed his enforcer duties with Prescott.

  “Thank you for giving me your blood, Aiden.” Kaitlyn was sitting on the sofa next to him, and he hated the distance between them.

  “If I was wrong, my blood wouldn’t have harmed you.” He pulled her onto his lap and smiled at her sigh. He felt the rush in her blood that came with the touch of her mate. He also felt her cat’s pleasure. The twin natures of his mate were equally pleased at his show of affection.

  “I just remembered feeling so weak. I knew I was dying. Have you ever been close to death like that?”

  “In the 1700s, I encountered a coven that fed on children. My attempt to stop their depraved practice led to me being seriously injured. I felt as you did, I knew I was dying. A wolf shifter named Liam West found me on his pack lands.”

  “Did he know what you were?”

  “No. We talked for quite a while that night and eventually he decided to save me.”

  “I’m glad you didn’t die, Aiden.”

  “As am I, my mate.” Aiden suddenly realized that Liam had also been the reason he’d met Kaitlyn and Sean. His journey to deliver his Harley to Finn had drawn him directly into Kaitlyn’s path. Well, old friend, your blood gave me life once and now you’ve given me life again. She is the greatest gift possible. Thank you.

  “I need to go out on patrol tonight,” Sean said. He sat down next to Kaitlyn and pulled her legs across his lap. “I think you should stand guard here, Aiden. Do you need to sleep?”

  “Of course he needs to sleep, Sean,” Kaitlyn said. Then she looked at Aiden, her eyes wide. “Don’t you?”

  “Yes, mate. I need to sleep.”

  She smiled at Sean in triumph, then looked back at Aiden, her eyes wide. “In a bed?”

  He tweaked her adorable little nose. “Until I receive my coffin for Christmas, I’ll have to make do with a bed.”

  * * * *

  Sean was surprised at how much he was beginning to like Aiden. The man was caring and funny. He didn’t abuse his mind-reading and had tried to save Sean’s ass with Kaitlyn once already. But before he would let her bind herself to life to him, he needed some questions answered.

  Aiden looked right at him. “You can only read the thoughts currently in our minds. Not every thought we’ve ever had.”

  “That’s not a question, Sean. But you’re correct.”

  “Shifters live for around three hundred years. You live for…?”

  “Vampires will live until they die.” Aiden’s glance at Kaitlyn made him realize he’d thought about his next question already and Aiden had heard it.

  “And Kaitlyn?” he asked the question out loud for her benefit.

  “Since I have never encountered anyone like Kaitlyn, I’m unsure. Perhaps her father has more information?”

  “You’re right. He was mated to a vampire, they must have discussed it.” Sean looked at Kaitlyn and saw she’d drifted off to sleep. “We need to get him up here.”

  Sean rested his head back against the sofa and thought of all the things they had yet to discover about their mate. Caressing her calves through her sweatpants, he felt his love for her bloom, as did his erection. He’d never been in love before and it was frightening.

  “Are you scared of commitment?” Aiden asked.

  “No, my spooky friend,” Sean said. He laughed at the glare Aiden shot him. “I’m scared to death of losing her. I didn’t expect to fall so hard and so fast for my mate. But now that I’ve found her, I can’t imagine a life without her.”

  “I would gladly follow her into death. I wouldn’t want to live without her now,” Aiden said, his eyes bright red now as he stared down at their mate.

  “So that’s another way to kill a vampire?” Sean asked. Aiden merely nodded. “Vampires can obviously have children. You’re born, not made?”

  “If you bit a human, would they turn into a mountain lion?”

  “Point made. I really like vampire movies.”

  This time, Aiden laughed. “I’m rather fond of them, too. I also like a good werewolf movie.”

  Sean had to agree. It was funny to see Hollywood get it so wrong on the whole shape-shifter genre.

  “We should get some sleep. We’ll both be awake all night again.” The thought of sleeping next to Kaitlyn made his already-erect cock throb painfully. He’d put up with the pain to sleep with her in his arms.

  * * * *

  Kaitlyn woke up feeling warm and safe. She remembered Sean and Aiden discussing vampires, but must have fallen asleep. She felt a warm body pressed close to her back and scented Sean’s mating musk thick in the air. She breathed it deep into her lungs. The arousal warmed her already heated blood. Aiden was lying on his side, his back close to her front and her arm was draped over his waist.

  He was cool to touch, his body not as warm as a shifter’s despite the quilt she felt on top of them all. The room was lit with dim afternoon light, but she could see the expanse of Aiden’s golden, muscled back very clearly. His shoulders weren’t as broad as Sean’s, his body not as bulky, but his strength was still obvious in the way his every muscle was clearly defined.

  What surprised her the most were his tattoos. He had a band of intricately drawn knots circling his right bicep and a huge dragon taking up most of his back. The precise detail of the dragon made it the most beautiful tattoo she’d ever seen, every scale clearly defined as it curled around his back. Its eyes glowed as it shot red and yellow fire across his left shoulder blade. She wondered if the flames extended over his shoulder to his chest.

  “Yes, they do, my lovely mate.” She jumped at the sound of his voice. He rolled over to face her and she reached out to touch the ends of the flames as th
ey licked the top of his shoulder.

  “The tattoo feels hard.” She touched the band on the front of his right bicep. It felt hard and slightly raised as well, the intricate knots forming a beautiful two-inch-wide pattern.

  “I met an artist in Japan in the thirteenth century who mixed a little silver nitrate with his ink. It retards my natural healing process enough to allow the tattoo to be permanent.”

  “It’s a beautiful dragon.”

  “My name means ‘fiery one’ in the country of my birth. The other is a Celtic warrior armband. I was going through a nostalgic period.”

  His smile was beautiful. She couldn’t imagine living as long as he had. Seeing the world change so much. Fighting in so many battles. “Are your parents still alive?”

  “They live in a small castle in Scotland at present. I’d like to take you both to meet them.”

  “To Scotland? I’ve never left the country. Will they hate that I’m a shifter, too?” She saw the pain flash through his eyes before he closed them and sighed. “Sorry,” she whispered.

  His eyes snapped back open. “You have nothing to apologize for. I hurt you, Kaitlyn.”

  “I’m not mad anymore. I understand now. You’ve lived with the preconceived idea that your mate was a vampire for a thousand years. I was a big surprise.”

  “The surprise is how much I already love you.” Aiden leaned forward slowly, his eyes hooded with desire. She met him halfway. She ached to feel the softness of his lips in a real kiss.

  His kiss was slow and coaxing. He wrapped his arm around her waist and caressed down her back as his tongue licked along the seam of her lips until she opened for him. His tongue rubbed slowly and sensuously against hers in teasing swipes. She drank in his wonderful taste as their tongues danced to a carnal rhythm.

  Pressing her tingling nipples against his hard chest only made them ache as they rubbed against the fabric of her T-shirt. When his hand cupped her ass and pulled her core against the hard length of his cock, a long moan whispered into his mouth.