The Midnight Hunt

by L. L. Raand

  “I told you not to enthrall me.”

  “I’m not.”

  “How do I know you’re not doing something to me right now?”

  Becca whispered. “How do I know anything I feel with you is real?”

  Jody’s eyes blanked, the flat black of an endless well. Suddenly she was a foot away, not touching Becca. Becca hadn’t seen her move.

  “You don’t,” Jody said. “Haven’t you heard you should never trust a Vampire?”

  “Did you learn anything inside?” Becca asked abruptly, pretending she didn’t miss the feel of that lithe body against hers. She resented being so effortlessly turned on and as easily rejected. The Vampire wasn’t interested in her, only her blood.

  Jody laughed. “Back to business, huh?”

  “Don’t flatter yourself. It’s always been just business.”

  Annoyed at Becca’s cool tone and determined to maintain control over the case they seemed to be sharing, Jody said, “Come to breakfast with me. I’ll fill you in.”

  “Breakfast? You mean food?” Becca said before she could stop herself.

  “I eat food.” Jody’s gaze dropped to Becca’s mouth. “I’ll feed later.”

  Feeling churlish at the idea of Jody seeking more sex, Becca said disdainfully, “The blonde wasn’t enough?”

  “I have a healthy appetite for some things.” Jody turned and started toward the street. “Coming?”

  Becca caught up to her and fell into step. The sun was already bright at six a.m. Jody put on sunglasses, turned the collar up on her white shirt, and put her hands in her pants pockets. Becca glanced at her worriedly. “How long can you…”

  “Be in the sun?” Jody asked.

  “Yes.”

  “After five or ten minutes of summer sunlight I’ll start to burn—”

  Becca gasped.

  The corner of Jody’s mouth twitched. “Sunburn—not conflagration. I’d have to be staked out in direct light for an hour or more before cellular breakdown would begin. After two hours, combustion.”

  “And you still walk around out here after sunrise? That’s crazy,” Becca said, her heart skittering painfully in her chest. “What if you get in an accident and can’t reach shelter!”

  “I’ll have millennia to live by starlight alone,” Jody said quietly.

  “I’ll take what time I have in the sun.”

  Becca thought she detected a note of sadness, but she knew that couldn’t be true. Gates didn’t seem capable of that emotion. She saw the detective reach for the diner door to hold it open for her and got to it first. She walked in ahead of Jody and intentionally picked a booth across from the windows, but out of the sunlight. As soon as the waitress poured their coffee and left, she removed her recorder from her bag.

  “Off the record,” Jody said.

  “That wasn’t our deal.”

  “Our deal was I would give you something when I had something.”

  Jody sipped her coffee, enjoying the way Becca’s jaw tightened and her skin flushed a richer shade of mocha. Most humans were afraid of challenging her. In fact most would do anything to avoid engaging with her at all. Becca was an intriguing change. “I don’t have anything yet except conjecture.”

  Becca closed her fist around her recorder and leaned across the table until only an inch separated them. “Don’t play games with me, Vampire. I’m not some brainless twit who’s dying to offer up my blood so you can get off.”

  “Are you sure?” Jody said, her voice low and seductive. “Because you certainly seemed to enjoy it earlier this morning.”

  “Just business, remember?” Becca couldn’t remember now what she’d found so attractive about this controlling, infuriating Vampire, or why on earth she cared if the arrogant fool wanted to tempt fate and walk around in the sun. “I kept my end of the bargain. Or did I make a mistake trusting you to keep your word?”

  Jody’s eyes erupted into a fiery red so hot Becca reflexively leaned back.

  “Careful, Becca,” Jody said, her voice ice. “I’m not some harmless house pet you can tease for your amusement. Remember, I bite.”

  Exactly how she bit flashed through Becca’s mind, and she forced the image away. “Then talk to me and I won’t have to risk my virginity.”

  Jody’s brows rose and she laughed. “I can see why you’re good at your job.”

  “How do you know I am?”

  “I follow your byline.”

  Inordinately pleased and chiding herself for the ridiculous response, Becca refused to react. “Give, Detective.”

  The waitress slid toast and eggs in front of both of them.

  “Thank you,” Jody said. She tore a slice of toast in half and buttered it. “A Jane Doe was dropped—literally—in front of the emergency room last night. Naked and unresponsive. She had a very high fever and almost immediately went into convulsions.”

  “Jesus,” Becca whispered. “No recorder, but I have to take some notes.” She found her pad and paper. “Go ahead. What happened?”

  “Unfortunately, the girl—and it was a girl, a teenager—died despite efforts to resuscitate her.”

  “Was the Alpha notified?” Becca scribbled teenager and circled it.

  “Not that I’m aware of.”

  Becca looked up, frowning. “Why not?”

  Jody regarded Becca silently.

  “What? What aren’t you tell—” Becca caught her breath. “Because the girl wasn’t a Were, was she?”

  “I can’t confirm that one way or the other. I’ll need to follow up with the coroner on COD as well.”

  “What does it mean?” Becca rubbed her forehead with her fingertips. “If she’s human, it can’t be Were fever, can it? But my source said—”

  “Tell me about this source,” Jody interrupted sharply.

  Becca sat back in the seat. “You know I can’t do that.”

  “Male or female?”

  “Honestly, I’m not sure. Even if I was, I wouldn’t say.”

  Jody hissed in frustration. “How do you contact—them?”

  “I don’t. I get a phone call.”

  “Saying what?”

  Becca blew out a breath. “That a patient with Were fever had been brought to the emergency room.”

  “And you don’t find it suspicious that they know this?”

  “Of course I do, but it could be anyone,” Becca argued. “An ambulance driver. Someone in the hospital. A friend of the girl’s. The point is, the call was accurate.”

  “Someone wants the press to know about this,” Jody said, “and he, or she, is counting on you to make that happen. Why?”

  “I don’t know,” Becca said. “But I’m willing to bet that Sylvan Mir does.”

  “Then I guess I’ll be talking to her,” Jody said.

  “I’m going with you.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  Becca reached across the table and grasped Jody’s wrist. She felt as if she were gripping carved marble. Smooth, hard, cool. “I will, with you or without you. But if I go on my own, I’m not going to share.”

  “I work alone. And even if I didn’t, you’re a reporter.”

  “I’m an investigative reporter. I work with the police all the time. This isn’t even an active crime case yet.”

  Jody shook her head and pulled a slim black leather wallet from her pants pocket. She placed several bills on the table. “The next time you decide to visit Nocturne, make sure you have an escort.”

  “I don’t need anyone to protect me. Least of all you.”

  “You do if you’re going back there again.” Jody slid out of the booth and leaned over Becca, bracing one hand on the table and her arm along the back of the booth, caging Becca in. “I can smell your hunger. I might not take you without your consent, but there are plenty of others who would consider your being at the club consent enough.”

  “My consent is one thing you’ll never have,” Becca said, refusing to back away even though Jody’s mouth was almost on her neck
.

  “Have a nice day, Ms. Land,” Jody said.

  Then she was simply—gone. Becca jumped up and searched the length of the diner, but the Vampire had vanished.

  “Nice try,” Becca muttered as she stormed out to the street. “You’ll have to work harder than that if you want to scare me away.”

  Jody, watching from the shadows of a tree-shrouded second-floor balcony on the opposite side of the street, smiled at Becca’s words.

  She didn’t want to frighten her away. She wanted to taste her. But she wanted to be invited to satisfy Becca’s hunger, and Becca had made it clear she would never offer.

  ———

  Drake knew she was dreaming when she opened her eyes in a forest glade dappled with sunshine. The world burst upon her in a kaleidoscope of scents and sounds—the rush of leaves fluttering in the breeze, the whir of thousands of insect wings, the pungent scent of wildlife and growing things. She felt so alive, such a sense of wonder, she wanted to dance. She wanted to run. She wanted to share this perfect moment, but she was alone. So alone.

  She trembled, aching with a vast and terrifying sense of emptiness.

  She whimpered, lost and uncertain.

  “It’s all right,” a deep, gentle voice whispered.

  Strong arms clasped her tightly, drawing her against a sleek, muscled body. Drake rumbled with pleasure and she pressed her hips into the curve of the pelvis cinched against her ass. A low growl from behind her struck fire in her core and her belly knotted. Pressure ballooned in her sex and a bolt of pain exploded between her legs.

  “What’s happening,” she groaned.

  “Your body is adjusting to the change.”

  “Sylvan?”

  Sylvan kissed the back of Drake’s neck. “Yes.”

  Drake felt another hand caress her thigh and then a warm cheek rested on her hip. “Who?”

  “That’s Niki,” Sylvan whispered. “We’re Pack. We’ll look after you.”

  “I feel strange. I hurt…inside. I want…I’m not sure…” Drake reached back and slid her hand down the hard abdomen curved against her back. She feathered her fingertips over a thin line of soft pelt low down in the center of Sylvan’s belly and followed it to a firm ridge.

  She pressed and Sylvan groaned. Niki growled a warning. Drake stiffened, anger making every hair on her body stand up. She made a low threatening sound deep in her chest.

  “We have to leave you for a while,” Sylvan said, loosing her hold and edging away. “Your wolf needs time to find her feet.”

  Drake rolled onto her back, breathing hard. Niki, naked, sat up on the end of the bed. Her wary eyes never left Drake as Drake focused on Sylvan.

  “My wolf?”

  “You turned, Drake. I’ll explain later. Right now, our medic Elena needs to see you.”

  “Wait.” Drake grabbed Sylvan’s arm.

  In a flash, Niki loomed over Drake on all fours, her lips pulled back to expose her canines. Niki scraped her teeth down Drake’s neck, leaving a thin trail of blood. “Release the Alpha, whelp.”

  “I’m sorry.” Drake pressed both hands flat to the mattress and met Niki’s gaze. When Niki growled she wanted to growl back. Rage swiftly engulfed her and she envisioned tearing into Niki’s throat. She turned her head away, confused.

  “Ease away, Imperator,” Sylvan said, running her fingers through Niki’s hair before stroking her rigid back. “She’ll learn.”

  Snarling, Niki slowly lifted her weight off Drake but crouched nearby, still poised to strike.

  Drake arched as a spasm cramped her lower abdomen. She flushed and sweat broke over her. “It’s starting again.”

  “No, this is not the fever. Your system is flooded with hormones from the transition.” Sylvan cradled Drake’s jaw and rubbed her thumb over the corner of her mouth. “You’ll be all right, Drake. You’re Pack and we will all protect you.”

  “Please…can you stay?” Drake whispered.

  Sylvan shuddered, her wolf strafing her soul in a fury. Take her.

  Forcing herself to leave her when what she wanted was to mark her, Sylvan rose and held out her arm to Niki. “I can’t.”

  Drake curled on her side and watched Sylvan and Niki disappear, more alone than she’d ever been in her life.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Wait for me outside,” Sylvan said to Niki. “I want to run.”

  Niki regarded the closed door to Drake’s room. “You’re not going back in there?”

  “Not now. She needs to be with a beta Were, someone who won’t incite her dominance instincts.”

  “Like us.”

  Sylvan hadn’t felt a challenge from Drake, but Niki didn’t need to know that. She tilted her head toward the porch. “Go. Then we’ll run.”

  “Yes, Alpha.” Niki cast one more uneasy glance at the door, then loped off.

  Sylvan followed Elena’s scent to the room the medic used when she stayed in the infirmary to be close to her patients. Before she could knock, Elena opened the door. Roger stood behind her, his arms loosely clasping her hips. He was shirtless. Elena wore loose pale cotton scrubs.

  Both had fading bite marks at the juncture of neck and shoulder.

  “Drake is awake,” Sylvan said. “She’s loaded with endorphins and pheromones. She almost challenged Niki.”

  “She is dominant, then,” Elena murmured, absently running her nails up and down Roger’s arms. He rumbled and caught her earlobe in his teeth. “Is she showing signs of frenzy?”

  Sylvan remembered Drake’s hand caressing her abdomen, exploring her clitoris with her fingertips. She had come instantly erect and was still fully ready to release. “She might be soon, and she doesn’t understand what’s happening.”

  “She can’t. She’s like an adolescent in a constant state of frenzy, but she’s totally unprepared for it.” Elena shook her head. “She must be in such pain.” Elena gave Sylvan a cautious look. “I can prepare her, but if she really is in frenzy, she’s going to need release with another Were soon.”

  Sylvan growled. “She’s not ready.”

  “We don’t know what she is,” Elena argued. “She’s unique in our experience.”

  Roger rubbed his chin on Elena’s shoulder, a worried whine reverberating in his chest. “How do we know she won’t attack Elena? I should go in with her.”

  “No, she’s already confused and she’ll want to dominate you,” Elena said gently, reaching back to caress his neck. “I am mated, and her wolf will recognize that.”

  “We can’t be sure,” Roger protested.

  “You can stay outside on the porch, where you can hear my call if I need help.” Elena turned in his arms and nipped at his jaw. “You’ll know if I’m in danger, mate.”

  Roger closed his eyes and lifted his chin so she could bite his neck. He grumbled his assent.

  Sylvan wrapped her arms around both of them, and Elena and Roger crowded against her. She stroked Elena’s hair and cupped the back of Roger’s neck. “Drake might have the urges of an adolescent, but she isn’t showing any signs of being rabid. I wouldn’t let Elena go near her if I thought there was any danger.”

  “I’ll go to her now,” Elena said.

  “Help her,” Sylvan ordered.

  “And if she shows signs of needing true release?”

  Sylvan growled again, her claws jutting out. “Find her someone.”

  ———

  Niki jumped down from the railing where she’d been crouched, waiting for Sylvan. The Alpha stormed through the door, her eyes already wolf-gold, her torso shimmering silver. Niki focused on the two purple crescents above Sylvan’s breast that hadn’t been evident when Sylvan’s wolf had been quieter.

  “She bit you!”

  “Let’s run.”

  “Alpha,” Niki cried. “She could have infected you!”

  “She didn’t,” Sylvan snapped, striding down the stairs toward the forest.

  “You don’t know that. She’s dangerous!”

  Syl
van whipped around. “Enough!”

  Niki stopped abruptly, her body quivering. “You smell like her.”

  “I’m covered in her scent from the transition. It’s nothing.” Sylvan wrapped her arms around Niki’s shoulders and leaned down until their eyes held. “Save yourself for a true battle, Imperator. This is not your fight.”

  “You are my Alpha,” Niki whispered.

  “I am. And you are my second. The wolf of my heart.” Sylvan pulled Niki close and rubbed her chin on the top of her head. “We need to find out what’s causing these fevers in humans and stop it before there’s open season on Weres. I need you by my side, Niki, now more than ever.”

  Niki brushed her mouth over Sylvan’s chest, careful not to touch the bite mark. “Always, Alpha. Always.”

  ———

  “I’m the Pack medic,” Elena said, slipping into Drake’s room and closing the door behind her. “How are you feeling?”

  “I’m not so sure.” Drake sat up with her back to the wall and tucked a sheet tightly around her hips. She’d never been particularly shy or self-conscious, but her body didn’t feel like hers. When she’d first awakened with Sylvan and Niki pressed close against her, she’d been comforted. But she’d been aroused too, painfully so, and when she’d been compelled to touch Sylvan, her excitement had been unbearable.

  She was still intensely aroused.

  Elena smelled good. And she was beautiful. Her delicate features were framed by thick, long black curls that Drake wanted to run her hands through. Elena was petite but full-bodied, with luscious breasts and hips. Drake imagined skimming her mouth over the curves of her breasts and down the center of her gently rounded belly. Her clitoris jutted out and she growled softly.

  “I don’t think you should be in here,” Drake said.

  Elena leaned back against the door, watching Drake carefully.

  “Sylvan says your wolf is challenging you.”

  “Something is.” Drake laughed shakily. Her stomach ached as if she were hungry, but for much more than food. When she ran her hand down the center of her abdomen, her skin felt different. More sensitive.

  Her muscles were tighter, harder. Her loins twinged and she winced with another sharp pain between her legs. “I’m…I’m having some control problems.”