The Midnight Hunt

by L. L. Raand

  “She’s acting like she’s in heat. Is it sex frenzy?”

  “I don’t know,” Elena said. “I’ve never seen a human survive this long. But I do know her muscles are breaking down and the toxins are affecting her central nervous system.” Elena jerked back when Drake lashed out with her free arm, nearly striking her. She gave Sylvan a regretful look. “We’re going to need to restrain her soon.”

  “No,” Sylvan said.

  “She’s going to hurt herself. Or one of us.”

  “What about the medication to treat the hyperthermia? Can’t you give her more?”

  “Sophia said she’s had the maximum dose. Any more and we might kill her.”

  Sylvan growled, her facial bones shifting beneath her skin—elongating, growing heavy and blunt. Her vocal cords thickened almost to the point where she couldn’t form words. “She’s dying anyhow. Do something!”

  “Alpha, there’s nothing we can do!”

  “Her wolf can heal her.” Sylvan’s wild energy, bred of centuries of powerful Alphas, poured from every cell, soaking the room in aggression and wrath. Drake thrashed frantically, an inarticulate cry wrenched from her chest. Blood trickled from her nose.

  Terrified, Elena grasped Sylvan’s arm and tried to break her hold on Drake’s wrist. “Let her go! Your call is making her worse. She’s too ill to shift.”

  “No! She has to complete the transition. It’s the only thing that will save her.” Sylvan’s claws erupted and blood scent rose in the air.

  Trembling with the effort not to attack Elena, she pointed to the door.

  “Leave us.”

  “What are you going to do?” Elena tried to insinuate her own body between Sylvan and Drake, even though she knew she was challenging the Alpha when Sylvan was very near to losing control.

  “She’s dangerous, Alpha. She’s very strong to have lived this long. If she manages to shift and turns rabid…”

  “Go,” Sylvan said in a tone that no wolf could disobey.

  Elena turned her head aside and closed her eyes. “As you wish, Alpha.”

  “Keep everyone away, especially Niki.”

  Elena started toward the door, then abruptly returned to Sylvan.

  “No, stay away from me.” Sylvan extended her arm in warning.

  “Elena, don’t test me.”

  “I’m not afraid of you,” Elena murmured as she skimmed her mouth along the edge of Sylvan’s jaw. “I love you. Be careful.”

  Sylvan buried her face in Elena’s hair, holding her tightly. “I love you.” She kissed her temple. “Go now.”

  Elena caressed Sylvan’s face with trembling fingers before reluctantly leaving the room.

  Sylvan slowly approached the bed and knelt on the rough plank floor. Acting on pure instinct, she slid a hand behind Drake’s neck and one arm around her waist. Gently, she gathered her into her arms and skated her mouth over Drake’s cheek, tasting her. Oak and dark wine and midnight in the forest. She shuddered with a surge of primitive possession. Her wolf clawed and gnashed with a fierce need to protect.

  She wanted to destroy whatever was inside Drake that threatened to take her away. She cradled Drake’s face against her chest and let her wolf rise.

  “Sylvan?” Drake clutched Sylvan’s arms. “Sylvan?”

  “Yes,” Sylvan gritted her teeth, the frenzy tearing at her insides.

  She broke out in a sweat, drenched in pheromones and adrenaline. Her sex swelled, the deep-seated glands expanding so rapidly her clitoris erected painfully. She wanted to climb on top of Drake and rub her sex all over her, but something far more primal than sex frenzy drove her.

  She wanted to dominate her, mark her with claws and teeth. The need to claim her was a fury in Sylvan’s blood. Mine.

  Drake’s face twisted in pain. She opened her eyes and found Sylvan’s. She touched Sylvan’s face with the lightest of caresses. “Help me. Sylvan…Alpha, help me.”

  And suddenly, Sylvan understood in a place deep inside, deeper than thought or reason, what she must do. She was Alpha and Drake was hers, as every wolf was hers, but more. She climbed onto the bed with Drake in her arms and held her in her lap. Broadcasting all her power, she gave the order none of hers could resist. “Come to me, my wolf.”

  Drake gasped, her arms and legs jerking with violent contractions.

  “Oh God,” she screamed, “it hurts. It hurts.”

  Sylvan’s canines erupted and a trail of silver streaked down the center of her abdomen. Her clitoris pounded, her sex glands pulsed. Her wolf was upon her. “Let her come, Drake. Free her.”

  Blood flecked Drake’s mouth and her eyes rolled back. Sylvan held Drake tightly, feeling bones shifting beneath her hands. A glimmer of midnight pelt rippled beneath Drake’s skin, but still, she did not shift. Crimson rivers flowed from Drake’s mouth onto her neck and chest.

  Her rasping breaths stuttered and abruptly stopped. Sylvan snarled, furious at being disobeyed. She clasped the back of Drake’s neck, her claws puncturing the skin, and shook her. “You will not die! Shift.”

  Drake thrashed, screaming, lethal canines erupting and lacerating her lower lip. Short, sharp claws tore through her fingertips and she scored Sylvan’s back and shoulders in a mindless frenzy. Sylvan’s wolf gnashed her teeth, enraged, demanding to dominate, to claim. Sylvan flung Drake onto her back and straddled her stomach. She snarled in Drake’s face.

  “Shift.”

  Drake lashed out with unexpected strength and buried her canines in Sylvan’s chest, just above her breast. Sylvan’s vision hazed to red.

  Her sex glands exploded, pheromones pumped from every cell, and she came with a roar. She doubled over in an ecstasy of pain and pleasure, Drake’s mouth still at her breast. In the fleeting second before her wolf burst free, her eyes met Drake’s and she saw triumph in the black-gold gleam of Drake’s eyes. Howling in a fury of orgasm, Sylvan curled protectively around the midnight black wolf who shivered against her belly.

  Exhausted, Sylvan panted, her limbs twitching, her hips still flexing uncontrollably. Drake? She nuzzled the wolf’s neck and whined worriedly. Drake, can you hear me?

  The black wolf licked her face in answer.

  Sylvan sighed and rested her muzzle on top of Drake’s shoulder, tucking Drake’s head securely beneath her chin. The frenzy was gone.

  She felt satisfied, content. Drake was safe, and she would keep her that way.

  ———

  Niki was driven to her knees by a barrage of power that blasted from the infirmary. Then she heard Sylvan roar in agony. Sylvan was in danger. The Alpha needed her. She burst inside and raced down the hall.

  Elena blocked the door to Drake’s room. “You can’t—”

  “Move,” Niki shouted.

  “No.” Elena braced her back against the closed door.

  Driven by instinct, Niki was past reason, and Elena was preventing her from getting to her Alpha. Niki grabbed Elena’s shoulders and jerked her aside. Elena cried out and blood welled beneath Niki’s hands where her claws gouged flesh. Before Niki could force her way into the sickroom, she was tackled and knocked violently to the floor.

  She landed on her back, a knee driving into her stomach and an arm crushing her throat. An enraged male with canines flashing snarled in her face. Roger. Elena’s mate.

  “Roger,” Elena cried. “No.”

  Niki locked on Roger’s face and let her eyes go wolf. He was a beta Were, far less dominant than her. He was challenging her, preventing her from protecting the Alpha. She would kill him. She showed her canines in warning.

  “Niki!” Sophia cried, dropping to her knees beside the struggling pair. She had heard the snarls and growls from across the courtyard in the barracks where she’d been waiting for word of Drake and come running. “Roger is protecting his mate. Niki, he’s protecting Elena.”

  Niki ignored Sophia, her gaze locked on Roger. Roger didn’t relent, holding the challenge. Niki’s eyes burned hunter green. Roger wasn’t strong
enough to fight her in skin form, and he wasn’t dominant enough to shift quickly. But Niki didn’t need to shift—she could snap his neck with her bare hands. She gathered herself to throw him off, to kill him and restore order.

  Panicked, Elena wrapped her arms around Roger’s shoulders from behind and pressed her cheek to the top of his head. Her voice quavered.

  “Roger, darling. Release the imperator. Please, darling. Let her go.”

  “Niki, it’s the mate bond,” Sophia whispered, her mouth close to Niki’s ear, her breath soft and warm. She slipped her arm between Roger and Niki and rubbed Niki’s chest and belly. “He’s not challenging you.”

  Niki growled. “Let me go.”

  “No,” Sophia murmured. She licked Niki’s neck. Niki tasted wild and hot, her aggression so high Sophia wanted to roll onto her back and give Niki her belly. She wanted Niki to climb onto her and take her. She tried to keep her focus on calming Niki and saving Roger’s life. “I know you want to fight, but you don’t need to. You absorbed the Alpha’s call, Niki—that’s what’s making you wild. You don’t need to fight Roger.”

  Niki shuddered, Sophia’s caresses dulling the pain she’d been carrying since Sylvan locked herself in with Drake, putting herself in danger and refusing Niki’s protection.

  “Tell Roger that Elena will be safe,” Sophia urged, rubbing her cheek on Niki’s. She pressed her breasts gently against Niki’s arm, and when Niki shuddered again, stroked her fingertips down the indentation dividing Niki’s rigid abs, tracing the feathery line of pelt that disappeared inside her waistband. “You don’t want to hurt him.”

  Sophia’s lips were soft against Niki’s face. So soft. Sophia’s touch soothed her raging wolf. Niki sought Sophia’s eyes. They were tender.

  Strong. “Sophia?”

  Sophia smiled as Niki’s eyes shifted back to forest green. “Hey. You scared Roger. Tell him it’s all right.”

  “The Alpha—”

  “I know.” Sophia brushed the corner of Niki’s mouth with hers.

  “Take care of the others first. That’s what the Alpha would want.”

  Niki closed her eyes and turned her face into Sophia’s palm, breathing her scent. Sunshine and saplings. Fresh and pure. Then she caught Roger’s gaze.

  “Stand down, wolf. Your mate will come to no harm.” Niki’s throat ached from the weight of Roger’s arm. She felt Sophia’s mouth on her neck, just the flick of her tongue, and the pain lessened.

  Roger released the pressure on Niki’s neck and slid off, kneeling beside her, his head bowed. Elena pulled him back and slowly edged between him and Niki, watching Niki carefully. She would protect her mate with as much ferocity as he had protected her.

  Sophia lingered by Niki’s side, overwhelmed by a powerful need to comfort her. Niki had almost been driven feral with the strain of absorbing the Alpha’s furious call. Niki was suffering and Sophia couldn’t bring herself to stop touching her. Her fingertips were suddenly damp and she realized Niki’s skin was sex-sheened. She was caressing a dominant Were and Niki was responding to her unintended invitation.

  Sophia hastily removed her hand from Niki’s belly and jumped to her feet.

  Niki rose as Sophia retreated. She throbbed with endorphins and adrenaline, pulsing with sex frenzy, but she had other duties before she could find a female for a tangle. She turned her back to Sophia and gently cupped Elena’s chin. Elena’s blouse was blood streaked on both shoulders. “Are you badly hurt?”

  “No. Your claws just caught me—it’s nothing serious,” Elena said.

  Rumbling quietly, Roger pulled Elena into his arms, her back to his chest, and wrapped his arms around her waist. He buried his face in her neck.

  “I’m sorry.” Niki rubbed the backs of her fingers over Elena’s cheek, careful not to linger and set Roger off again. He would be desperate to claim her, to assure himself his mate was safe. The smallest thing would incite him until he’d taken her. “I didn’t intend to hurt you. But I have to see Sylvan.”

  “Niki…Imperator…the Alpha said no one was to enter.”

  Niki clenched her fists and glowered at the closed door, blood flowing onto the floor as her claws sliced into her palms. “Did you hear her? Something’s wrong.”

  “I’m not so certain,” Sophia said, carefully keeping distance between her and Niki. “I sense…calm. I think the Alpha’s storm has passed.”

  “I don’t…” Niki took a deep breath, testing the air. Beneath the lingering frenzy, she detected a scent she didn’t recognize. A wolf? She shook her head, perplexed and uneasy. She went to the door. “I need to be sure.”

  ———

  Niki heard a low warning growl as soon as she opened the door.

  Quickly, she stepped inside and closed the door behind her, putting a protective barrier between the Weres outside in the hall and whatever danger lurked in this room. Her breath came faster as she took in the scene on the bed. A huge silver wolf crouched over a large sleeping black one, guarding her.

  Teeth bared, Sylvan growled again, her eyes glinting dangerously.

  Slowly, Niki knelt down, careful not to look into the Alpha’s eyes.

  “Are you all right?”

  Yes.

  Niki licked her lips, her throat dry. “Drake?”

  She will be fine.

  Niki wasn’t convinced, but she knew better than to challenge Sylvan now.

  “What would you have me do?”

  I scent your frenzy. What of your need?

  “I need to be here.”

  And I need you with me. Join us.

  Drake might wake up rabid and savage her, but Niki would die before she would disobey her Alpha. She shifted and padded to the bed. Carefully, she jumped up and curled around Sylvan’s hindquarters, resting her chin on Sylvan’s flank. She whined and Sylvan took her muzzle in her mouth, biting gently before letting go. Instantly, the pain of the last few hours disappeared and the frenzy eased. She was by Sylvan’s side, where she belonged. Niki was at peace. She closed her eyes, her belly warmed by the Alpha’s heat, but the burning lower in her loins reminded her of the soft caress of a white wolf with brilliant blue eyes.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Becca parked in the loading zone across from the ER entrance and waited while Jody went inside to question the staff. For the first ten minutes, she watched the slow trickle of people passing in and out of the big sliding glass doors and tried not to think about what she’d just experienced at Nocturne. She’d thought she had known what to expect in the Vampire club, but she was beginning to realize there was a lot humans didn’t know about the Praetern species. The more she thought about it, the more she realized how few details of their social orders the Praeterns had revealed. In her research she’d found plenty of information on Praetern business and commercial ventures, but nothing on matters of health, sex, or procreation. Maybe they thought humans would accept them more readily if they minimized their differences and emphasized their importance in the economic strata. Maybe they were right.

  She hadn’t been surprised by the fluid sexuality of the Vampires, but she’d been caught off guard by her own reactions. She’d always considered herself pretty adventurous, even though she’d never really gotten into multiple partners and had been exclusive with women since her teens, so she couldn’t quite figure out why she got so turned on watching Jody with the human couple. Even harder to understand was why she kept imagining holding Jody in her arms while Jody fed from the blonde and climaxed in the grip of blood thrall. Becca shivered and rubbed her arms. Agitated, aroused, confused, she yanked open the car door and climbed out. She checked her watch. Fifteen minutes had passed. She paced beside her vintage Camaro. She’d give the Vampire five more minutes and then she was going in after her.

  “I don’t know why I agreed to stay out here anyhow. Dictatorial Vampire,” Becca muttered, reaching the end of her car and whipping around to start back the other way. She collided with a stone wall and stared into the amused coal
black eyes of the Vampire in question.

  Becca’s breasts flattened against Jody’s chest and her nipples hardened instantly. Becca sucked in a breath. “Where did you come from?”

  Jody skimmed her hands down Becca’s arms and moved her back an inch. Her eyes flickered with pinpoints of crimson, like sparks drifting into the night sky. “The ER.”

  “I’ve been watching the door. You weren’t there a second ago.”

  “Human vision relies on detecting light displacement. If the dispersion is too rapid, nothing registers.” Jody lightly clasped Becca’s upper arms and massaged Becca’s biceps with her thumbs. Becca’s body was warm. She’d felt the heat against her chest through the thin silk of Becca’s blouse. She savored Becca’s scent, aware of the bloodlust stirring but doing nothing to temper it. Indulging herself by toying with a human who wasn’t prepared to host was a dangerous game to play, because sex and blood were inextricably bound in the Vampire psyche.

  Especially hers. The older or stronger the Vampire, the greater the blending of the two. Jody was a pre-animate, but her father was one of the most powerful Vampires in existence and her lineage was ancient.

  Even living, her drives were strong and her power to enthrall nearly as strong as a risen Vampire’s. The great arteries in Becca’s neck bounded with excitement, with life. Jody’s incisors slid from their sheaths.

  Becca was captivated by the flames dancing in Jody’s eyes. She leaned into her, her breasts and belly and thighs cleaving to Jody’s slender frame. Jody’s full lips parted and Becca saw a hint of fangs hidden behind them. Jody Gates gave the phrase playing with fire a whole new meaning.

  “They’re not always so visible,” Becca said, drawing her fingertip over Jody’s lower lip. The thought that she had excited Jody excited her. She liked feeling a little reckless. “Let me see.”

  “Careful what you wish for,” Jody murmured.