by Cynthia Eden
Gabe’s teeth ground together. “She stopped screaming,” he gritted out. When she’d finally realized what was happening, when she’d seen Jeremiah and had known why she was taken, Paige had stopped calling out for her lover.
He’d actually seen the life fade from her eyes, even while she was still breathing.
That total lack of feeling–he’d seen that look before.
In my own eyes.
So he’d stopped Jeremiah from gutting her. Gabe had bitten Paige, transformed her. She’d fled, but he’d watched her. And he’d always known that the perfect time would come to use her.
That time was now.
“H-he followed her out to the lake, ran right out…” Ah, this came from the still bleeding blond. John. John Mackenzie. How long had he been in the fold? Two years? Three? It was getting hard for Gabe to remember all the fresh bloods. As he stared at the blond, John gave a quick nod. “He chased her out…I saw ‘em…through my binoculars.”
Because you couldn’t get too close to a wolf’s lair, not without being scented. So the vamps used technology to supplement their already enhanced vision.
They’d watched. They’d waited. They’d attacked.
The plan had still gone to hell.
“He took her with him.” This came from one of the other vamps. The one with the dark eyes and weathered skin. Lorenzo, the Spaniard. “She’s probably dead by now.”
Gabe laughed. They really didn’t understand the wolf at all. He did. “She’s probably getting fucked.” Because she was the one weakness that Drake possessed. He’d run away from his pack for her. Run into danger for her.
The wolf was addicted, and Gabe had no doubt that, if necessary, Drake would trade his life for Paige.
Snow crunched to the left of him. The vamps around him swore and leapt forward.
Gabe shoved them out of the way. He wanted to see this visitor.
Curiosity had always been his weakness.
The white wolf edged from the darkness with his eyes glowing. The beast didn’t attack. He just stared at Gabe with that intense gaze.
Gabe smiled at him. “All alone are you?” Because there were no other sounds at that lake. This wasn’t a wolf out leading an attack party.
This was something altogether different.
Gabe crossed his arms over his chest. “If you’re here to deal…” So many deals, so many years. He knew just how the devil felt. When will it end? “Then you’re gonna have to shift and talk to me because I don’t fucking speak animal.”
The white wolf crept forward. His wary gaze darted to each of the vampires.
“Shift,” Gabe snapped, losing patience, “or I can just go ahead and kill you now.”
The wolf began to shift. Disgusting. Gabe hated the sight of the shifting wolves.
Even though he did enjoy the sounds of those popping bones.
But soon enough, a man stood before him. Fury tightened the man’s face and hands. “I know where they are.”
Fatal mistake. The wolf was just throwing all of his cards out for them to see. Now, they just had to torture the shifter to get that important information.
No deal. Just pain.
Death.
Some blood.
Snow stained red…It could be so lovely.
“I’ll take you there,” the werewolf said, “ and get you past the security.”
Security. So perhaps he would be useful after all. The pain could wait a bit. Gabe lifted a brow but didn’t move forward. “And you’ll do this because…?”
“Because I want to be alpha.”
Right. Everyone wanted power. But this wolf, with his bitter eyes and snarling arrogance, he wasn’t going to control this land.
Gabe wasn’t going to sit back and let any animal take control. Not anymore. Those days were over. There’d be no more truces. No more deals.
Only death.
But he smiled because he knew how to play the game. He’d made the damn game. “You want me to kill Drake Wyler.”
A quick nod. “That’s what you’re planning anyway, right? Kill him…and we–we can have the same arrangement that you had with Jeremiah.” The wolf glanced over his shoulder. What? Was he afraid the rest of his pack would find out that he was a traitor?
You should be afraid.
“The same arrangement I had with Jeremiah.” How the hell did the wolf know about that deal? Gabe cocked his head to the side and studied the wolf with faint interest. “So you want to kill the humans, too? Want to slice them up and hear them scream until their voices break?”
Ah, now that was surprise on the shifter’s face. Gabe almost smiled.
“He–he did–” A quick swallow and the shifter shook his head. “No, no, I just want control of the pack. The shifters will leave your men alone, I’ll make them stay away. You can hunt, you can kill…and I won’t do a damn thing to stop you.”
The whelp was annoying. “Cause you’ll control the wolves…”
“Damn right.” The shifter threw back his shoulders and stalked forward. Did he realize how close he was to death? The arrogant ones never seemed to understand, not until it was too late. “I’ll keep ‘em away. I’ll be alpha–I’ll be able to do anything and everything that I want.”
Provided Drake was dead.
“Do we have a deal?” The werewolf demanded.
Gabe stared back at him. “What’s your name?”
“Michael. Michael Flint.”
The name meant nothing and that very fact said he was staring at a werewolf no one gave a shit about. “Michael, you’re turning on your alpha so quickly.”
“Because I’m stronger. I’m smarter, I can–”
Gabe barely stifled a yawn. He’d heard this spiel a dozen times. “Take me to him.” Then he’d kill Drake, eliminate this werewolf dumbass, and he’d take all the territory in Alaska.
Wolves were always weakest without a leader. Without Drake–they’d be easy pickings for his vamps.
Michael smiled. No, some arrogant fools never saw death coming.
Not until the moment death reached up and yanked their beating hearts right out of their chests.
Chapter Seven
He’d taken her blood. Euphoria filled Paige’s body. She’d been so afraid she wouldn’t be able to get Drake to take her blood.
But he had. Her wolf hadn’t even hesitated.
He’ll be safe now.
She wrapped her arms around him, holding tight. They’d just climaxed again, and the pleasure still hummed through her body.
Then an alarm began to beep, a shrill, deep cry that came from the far right of the room. Paige tensed in Drake’s arms because she knew what that sound meant.
They’re coming.
Gabe and his vampires had managed to track them through the snow.
You didn’t find us soon enough, asshole.
Drake pulled away from her and stalked, naked, to the line of monitors. She followed him, but paused long enough to yank on her clothes as fast as she could.
She didn’t see anyone on the monitors, not yet.
“Motion sensor,” he said, not looking away from that screen. “Could be anything…”
But the clench in her gut told her that not just anything had triggered that alarm.
Then she saw the movement of a shadow. No, not a shadow.
A wolf. A white wolf, running toward the cabin. Paige tensed. “Are we…are we supposed to be having company?” She didn’t see anyone else, just that wolf.
“Michael.”
While she watched, the wolf began to shift. As the white fur vanished, it almost looked like snow was dripping away to reveal the man’s flesh. Then he stood, staring up at the camera. Up at them. In that moment, with him back in human form, she recognized the werewolf.
Paige’s hand went to her throat. The faint scratches were long gone by now, but she never forgot anyone who gave her pain, no matter how slight the wound was.
Not until she’d given payback for her injuri
es.
The old Paige, the girl she’d been, had never thought of vengeance and punishment.
The vampire knew there had to be a rough justice in the paranormal world. Only the strong survived.
She’d survive. So would Drake. She’d make sure of it.
“Why is he here?” Drake demanded. “He should be at the lake, hunting the vampires. He should–”
“He’s not alone.” Because she’d seen the other shadows. The ones that were closing in on the shifter.
Michael had to hear the vampires. Had to smell them.
But he just kept walking toward the cabin like he didn’t have a care in the world. “Does he know how to get past your security?” Her heart was racing in her chest.
Michael headed for the cabin. Another camera zoomed in on his face as he approached the front door. For just an instant, Paige caught sight of the smile that curved Michael’s lips.
Hell.
“He brought them here,” she whispered as the cold certainty settled in her gut. Michael was going to lead the vampires inside. Right to her and Drake. They would be sitting ducks for the vamps.
Their safe house had just become their prison.
Two of them. Two against–how many vamps?
The shadows pushed toward the cabin. One. Two. Three. Four…
Five?
“He’s not getting in,” Drake said as he punched a series of codes into the computer. “He doesn’t have the right access code. I changed a few days, and, after he hurt you, I didn’t give it to him.”
Her breath rushed out.
“Never really trusted him,” Drake muttered as he reached for the radio. He connected almost instantly with the compound. “Wolf gone rogue at safe house one,” he said, biting off the words. “Send back up…”
Michael wasn’t smiling anymore. He was kicking at the door. Punching. Guess he’d realized he didn’t the right code to get inside.
“That’s steel, bastard,” Drake said, voice hardening, “Reinforced fucking steel, and no, I didn’t tell your ass about that little feature, either.”
Because Drake had known that Michael might turn on him?
Another voice crackled over the radio. “Coming now, alpha. Two teams. Are there–”
The vampires closed in on Michael. They grabbed him and hauled him away from the cabin. Michael didn’t fight them. The wolf went with them willingly.
But she could see he wasn’t smiling anymore.
Her chest began to burn. She knew what would happen next. Michael might have thought he was working with the vampires. He might have thought that…
“Michael brought the vampires,” Drake said flatly into the radio, “and, they’re–”
Killing him.
Or, they would be, soon enough. Right then, they were holding him down. Slicing into him with their razor-sharp fangs.
Drinking from him.
And making sure that the security cameras saw everything.
“Get the fuck here,” Drake snarled and tossed the radio aside. Then he whirled and headed for the stairs.
Paige grabbed him. “You can’t go out there.” A glance at the monitors showed her that Michael was fighting back now. Screaming.
The vampires were still drinking.
Only it wasn’t just four vampires any longer.
Six.
Her breath caught when she saw Gabe. He wasn’t drinking from the werewolf. Gabe just stood there, staring up at the cabin.
Waiting.
He’d waited on this one attack for years.
Secrets. She hadn’t told Drake everything yet. There hadn’t been enough time. There still wasn’t.
“I’m alpha,” he growled as his gaze burned into her. “Michael is one of mine, traitor or not.”
Um, there was a not portion? That guy was a straight-up traitor. No doubt.
“I won’t let them drain him,” Drake’s voice rumbled over the beeping alarm. “Not while I just watch.”
No, Drake wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t just stand back while another wolf suffered. That wasn’t who her shifter was.
She knew that…and that was just one of the reasons she’d known that she had to get close to him again.
He’d taken her blood, but the boost from that blood didn’t happen instantaneously. She’d learned from the vampires in Florida–the vamps that weren’t twisted freaks–that when a vampire offered her blood to a werewolf, well, the result could be pretty damn amazing.
The wolf could become stronger.
She wanted Drake as strong as he could possibly be.
But the boost took a little time. The vampire blood had to work its way through his body.
I’ll give him the time he needs.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered because he’d hate what she was about to do.
But, sometimes, a vamp just had to do what she had to do.
Since he wasn’t expecting the attack, Paige had the advantage. She grabbed Drake and shoved him back against the wall. The wall had to be reinforced with steel. The whole place was reinforced.
This would hurt. But she had to hurt him in order to save him.
“Paige, what the hell–”
She kissed him. A deep, hard kiss that held all the passion and longing she felt for him. Did he know that she still loved him? That she always had? There’d never been another in her heart. There wasn’t room for anyone else. Even with all the miles and years between them, Drake had been the only one she wanted.
He shuddered against her. “Paige.” Lust. Need. Fury. All were in his voice. And he was about to try and break away from her. She knew it.
Couldn’t allow it.
I’m sorry. The words were only in her mind this time. She brought his lips back to hers. Kissed him again. She knew just what she had to do. Give him an injury that would disable him–for a bit–but allow him to come back even stronger once her blood started pumping fully in his veins.
A tear leaked down her cheek. His arms were around her. He was holding her tight. Some attacks, you never expected.
Paige tore her lips from his. In the same instant, she reached up, grabbed his head, and slammed it back against the reinforced wall. The thud of impact had nausea rolling in her gut.
Her shifter went down with a groan.
She stared at him, aware that her heart just hurt. “I’m sorry,” she said again. She had to move fast. She knew shifters–no, she knew him–and he’d be recovered in three, four minutes tops.
He’d come after her.
He’d go after Michael.
But Drake wouldn’t die. Because she wouldn’t allow it.
She spun away. Punched in the codes she’d memorized. She’d watched him so carefully, just in case…
The steel slid back. The trapdoor opened. She rushed through the opening but took precious seconds to secure the door behind her.
Her gaze flew around the cabin. She rushed to the left, to the right, and did her best to cover that trapdoor and protect her wolf.
Then she bent down, and her hand slid inside of her boot. Oh, that sweet weapon. Without a stake, she’d feel naked. She never left home–or her wolf’s compound–without it. Held inside by special straps, the weapon was waiting for her.
Time to die.
She ran out of that cabin and raced right toward her worst nightmare.
The vamps were feeding. Michael was screaming. And Gabe–Gabe opened his arms to her as if he were greeting a lost lover.
“I’ve missed you,” he said, voice smooth as silk.
Paige’s heart raced as she ran into his open arms.
***
Fury filled him as Drake’s eyes flew open. What. The. Hell.
He leapt to his feet. His gaze went to the monitors, and he saw Paige, his Paige, running into the open arms of a vampire.
The fuck no.
He leapt up the stairs and punched in the code to open the door. The steel slid back, and he shoved against the wood.
Only…the wood did
n’t move.
He shoved again. Harder. The wood lifted, then fell back down with a snap. His eyes narrowed. Paige had put something on top of the trapdoor. She’d locked him in.
His beast didn’t like to be caged.
With a roar, Drake slammed his shoulders into that wood. He pushed. He heaved.
The wood broke apart. He leapt up, still shoving–the bed, she’d put the bed on top of the trapdoor–then raced for the front door.
He could hear the snarls and shouts and they seemed to burn his ears. The image of Paige running into that vampire’s arms was branded into his mind. Why? Why?
He rushed outside. Saw the blood on the ground. Michael. Still alive. Barely moving.
Paige–she was…
“Hello, alpha.” The taunting voice came from his left.
Drake’s claws were out and so ready to claw that SOB apart.
“Did you lose something?” The vampire asked as Drake turned to face him.
The vampire was tall. Blond. Bleeding. And he held Paige in his arms. The embrace wasn’t one of a lover, though. One of the vampire’s arms locked around her throat, while the vamp’s other hand held a wooden stake right over Paige’s heart.
“Because it looks like I found something.” The vamp smiled, flashing fangs.
Drake saw the other vampires stalking toward him. Was he supposed to be intimidated? Scared?
He was just pissed. “Let her go.”
The vampire–he had to be the one Paige had told him about, the one she’d called Gabe-shook his head and laughed. “If that’s what you want…she’s already served her purpose.”
Drake was looking at Paige then. He saw her eyes flare wide in horror, then Gabe spun her around so that she faced the vampire.
“You’re free now,” the vampire told her, voice soft, almost tender, “because that’s what your wolf wants.”
Paige struggled against him, clawing, punching–
Drake realized, too late, just what the asshole was doing.
You’re free now.
He was killing her.
Drake roared and lunged forward, forgetting the other vampires, desperate to reach Paige, to help her and–
Gunfire.
Bullets. Thudding into his flesh. Burning. Tearing apart muscle and bone.
His blood spilled onto the ground. His legs stopped working. He wanted to reach Paige, but he couldn’t.