"I've heard rumblings about the validity," he said, his voice also low. "Nothing certain, but how could it be? Fairies blend in with everyone else, more so than wolves, more so than vampires. They're not forced to transform with the moon nor are they driven by a lust for blood. They are more human than any supe species but more dangerous than all of us. Vampires and fairies have never gotten along."
Danielle pushed her brow together. "Why not?" she asked.
"Their blood," he replied. His hand went back to her throat and his thumb traced the outline of her pulse. His eyes narrowed at the steady beating and darkened when he felt it jump into his touch. "It does something to us... You know, in the act of fucking, right after an orgasm when it feels so good, it literally hurts?" Danielle bit her bottom lip at the sound of his raw voice talk about fucking, and her insides clenched as that same familiar pulsating began to beat throughout her pelvis. His eyes caught sight of the gesture and they widened slightly. "That's how it tastes to us. Makes us get so drunk on lust that we destroy them in our thirst for it. We destroy them. Perhaps this is their way of destroying us. Taking out our Royalty, our form of government, could very well send us into anarchy."
Danielle's eyes were wide. "Are you serious?" she asked.
"Dead," he told her, "in more ways than one."
She slapped his chest and he smirked. "But that has nothing to do with my father," she pointed out, leaning into his touch. Her eyes looked up, narrowing in on his sharp jawline. She felt lightheaded just looking at him, just being near him.
"No," he agreed, "but it would explain why we know nothing about them. Why rumors are just rumors." He perked his brow. "Do you have any other questions, princess? Anything I can assist you with?"
Danielle smiled. Her thoughts drifted back to Luke, to his comments about her neck, and she sobered up.
"If you were to bite me, to suck my blood, what would happen?" she asked, her voice a ghost of a whisper.
Danielle didn't know how it was possible, but Alek's eyes darkened even further upon hearing her question. Instead of the crystal blue that resembled the sky during the day, it was dark and crisp, the kind of blue that only came out at night, against the moon. The way he currently looked at her caused her to shiver with desire and danger simultaneously. She had no idea how he was able to conjure up conflicting feelings inside of her and what they meant and if they even mattered in the great scheme of things. She could feel his grip on her throat tighten just slightly enough, his eyes dropping to the pulse beneath his thumb as though he could physically hear her heartbeat. And maybe he could.
"What would make you ask me that?" he murmured.
"Luke mentioned it." Danielle had no idea how she was able to speak in the first place. His eyes flashed with annoyance at the mention of Luke's name but he made no comment about it.
"Luke should not be speaking of things he doesn't know about," Alek murmured. "Werewolves have this thing called imprinting. It means they've found their soulmate, if such a thing is to be believed. Fairies have their own form of imprinting as well."
"So fairies are real," Danielle breathed out, her eyes wide. "How do you know so much about them?"
Alek smirked at her questions. "You're a curious creature," he said. "Perceptive, too. I'm a professor at a prestigious research university. I hear things." He cocked his head to the side. "Vampires have their own form of imprinting, if you believe your intro to anthropology professor. The way they bond is through the exchange of blood, taking life without taking the soul. So, to answer your question, if I were to sink my teeth into your flesh over your pulse, you would be mine. If I gave you my blood to drink, I would be yours. I would be able to sense where you are and what you're feeling. And you would be able to do the same thing with me. But it's rare for a vampire to do such a thing."
"And why is that?" Danielle asked.
"Because unlike the wolves who act before they think, vampires make the choice to imprint with their other," Alek said. "It sounds counterintuitive, but it's how we work. We know who we could imprint with - and for us, there are multiple options - but once we make that choice, we live with it for the rest of our time on earth. It’s why we're much more selective about who we imprint with, if we choose to do so at all."
"And have you felt it?" Danielle asked, pressing her brows up. "The need to imprint with anyone?"
Alek looked at her for what felt like a long moment. Try as she might, she couldn't read his eyes. They were too deep, to conflicting. Finally, he shook his head.
"No," he said, dropping his hand from her throat. "I have not. And I'm grateful I don't have any potential weaknesses out there that could potentially be used against me."
Danielle's heart cracked at his statement but she refused to let it show. She kept it in until she made it back to her dorm. Only then did she allow herself the time to cry.
16
Later that evening, after Danielle had showered and wiped any lasting traces of tears she had cried over Alek's cold response, she called Aubrey over to discuss what both Luke and Alek told her that day. Aubrey brought over Chinese food and they sat at Danielle's dining table and brainstormed their next move over chow mein and orange chicken.
"Luke seems to think the Lone Wolf pack has my father," Danielle said after swallowing a rather large portion of the noodles. "But wouldn't it make more sense for that Lone Wolf to have him? I know the pack is notorious for killing people who threaten their compound but how would they be able to get my dad at the NDS building? I thought they stayed where they were."
"The Lone Wolf kills in the moment," Aubrey corrected, looking at Danielle over her food. She paused to take a quick sip of her Diet Coke, something she seemed to drink constantly. "If he wanted your dad dead, your dad would be dead."
"But maybe he is and no one has found the body yet," Danielle pointed out. It felt weird, talking about the possibility that her dad could be dead over Chinese food like they were talking about the latest episode of The 100.
"The Lone Wolf would hide your father's body," Aubrey replied. "Think of it this way: your dad got abducted from the NDS building. If it was The Lone Wolf, he would have killed your dad in the building. No way he takes your dad prisoner. That would weigh him down and force him to hide your dad, feed your dad, make sure he's taken care of. Plus, The Lone Wolf doesn't seem to want anything. He's killing those involved with his transformation for a reason, not in exchange for something. He's not the sort you can just buy off."
Danielle's eyes sparkled as she shot her new friend a look. "You sound as though you have a thing for him," she murmured.
The tips of Aubrey's cheeks turned red but Aubrey brushed Danielle’s comment off easily. "It's not that," she said. "I've just been researching his life and trying to decipher why he's doing what he's doing. The guy is a killer, yes, but, as crazy as it sounds, there's a reason behind why he's doing what he's doing. He isn't killing innocent people, Dani, he's killing only those directly involved with manipulating his gene code and injecting the serum that transformed him from being one hundred percent human into a mutant werewolf. His wife wants nothing to do with him now. He lost everything because of what they did."
"Yeah, but didn't they save his life?" Danielle asked before shoving some orange chicken in her mouth.
"Technically speaking, yes," Aubrey affirmed, nodding her head. "His real name is Shane August and he was a soldier for the United States Marines. I don't have the documentation to prove it but I believe he was on a Seal Team during his time in the marines just because he was injured during a top-secret raid in Afghanistan that original reports say killed him. As in, he was dead. No pulse. No response. Nothing." She paused to take another sip of her Diet Coke. "Now, those documents were redacted and the only ones anyone can find are the ones saying he was wounded but it didn't turn fatal."
Danielle furrowed her brow. Through a mouthful of noodles, she asked, "How is that even possible?"
"I believe our militia is constantly looking
for new weapons to protect our troops with," Aubrey continued. "The federal grant money that goes into technology for the department of defense is astronomical compared to social programs and education. A lot of that money sponsors research - collecting data and designing prototypes that can advance our militia and makes us even more of a threat than we already were. The NDS has a department for that kind of research - the department your father was in charge of. He was the one who came up with the serum that turned humans into werewolves."
"Okay, wait," Danielle said, furrowing her brow. "How is a werewolf more powerful than a gun or a grenade? How would an army of werewolves make the US military more powerful than it already is?"
"Give a man a gun and teach him to shoot, and he'll shoot," Aubrey said. "Give a werewolf a gun, teach him to shoot, and he'll be able to see in far distances humans wouldn't be able to see. He’d be able to smell his targets, hear them from half a mile away. If he runs out of guns or ammunition, he can transform into a fast beast with sharp claws and even sharper teeth. It's not him being a wolf that will do the most damage, but sharpen a man's abilities, and he's a threat. A big one."
"So the government paid my dad to develop this?" Peyton asked.
Aubrey shook her head. "The government paid your dad for ideas," she corrected. "This is what he came up with."
Danielle's mouth dropped open. Her father was responsible for the creation of a serum that turned innocent humans into werewolves. A serum that was used on at least two men without their consent. She blinked, slowly readjusting her jaw so her lips were pressed together and shook her head. How could this be possible? Why would her father do something like this to these men?
"I'm still unsure if your father actually administered the serum to August and Noah Wright," Aubrey said gently, as though she could somehow read Danielle's mind.
"But he did create it," Danielle stated.
Aubrey nodded. "Yes," she replied.
"How many men were given the serum?" Danielle asked.
Aubrey shrugged. "I'm not sure," she replied. "Two I know for sure at Shane and Noah."
Danielle closed her eyes. "Okay, back up," she said. "We were talking about Shane August. Now, technically speaking, the serum saved his life, right?"
Aubrey nodded. "Werewolf DNA has regenerative properties so, while they're technically not immortal, they can heal themselves," she said. "For example, look at Bridgette Barker, Marcus Sterling's mate. She was an NDS agent, a human. Marcus bit her, transforming her into a werewolf. A lot of times, a human turning into a werewolf is a dangerous transformation that requires if not medical attention, the wolf pack's medical advisor to help the human for through the transformation."
"Yes, but unlike Bridgette Barker, Noah and Shane were forced into being a werewolf rather than the subject of imprinting," Danielle pointed out.
"Correct," Aubrey said with an approving glint in her blue eyes. "There's not much we know about imprinting - from either species. Apparently, Nikolai Dragulia imprinted with Lizzie Grant and that's why he's choosing to marry her even though vampires and monogamy aren't exactly two sides of the same coin, especially with a human as a partner."
Danielle's brows shot up. "Yes, I'm aware," she muttered.
Aubrey cocked her head to the side. "How?" she asked. "I mean, I'm here if you want to talk about it. Don't feel compelled to share if you're not in the mood. Either way, I totally understand. I just want you to know I'm here for you. Completely off the record." She gave Danielle a warm smile.
Danielle tried to reciprocate. "Is there such thing as off the record with journalists?" she murmured, arching a brow.
"With me, there is," Aubrey said with so much conviction that Danielle believed her. "Why do you think Luke and I were able to date as long as we did? Granted, three months isn't much but it is for me." She shrugged her shoulders.
"Speaking of Luke," Danielle said, staring at her half-eaten Chinese food. "He stopped by Alek's class today. Kicked everyone out on the pretense of speaking with me and me alone. Alek wasn't too pleased about it."
"I'm sure he wasn’t," Aubrey said with a smile.
Danielle felt her heart clench together. "It's not like that," she said. She hadn't wanted to speak about this. In fact, she wasn't sure if she wanted to tell anyone in the first place, but she knew she could trust Aubrey and she really did want to tell somebody what she was feeling and what she was going through. "I mean, I thought it was, but it isn't. He made that very clear."
Aubrey pressed her lips together and looked away. "Alekssander Erikkson is an interesting person," she murmured. "He's a Viking. Like, he's been around since the Vikings. Think about that. He's been on this earth for over a thousand years. I'm sure it's hard for him to recognize that he cares about you. Give him time. I'm sure he'll come around."
Danielle pressed her brows together and glanced away. To be honest, she wasn't sure if she wanted to give him that time to figure out if he had feelings for her or not. She already went through a time with Ryder deciding whether or not to wait around for him to change who he was. That didn't happen and she learned that she couldn't be with someone she thought needed to change just like she couldn't be with someone who needed to change her. She didn't think Alek wanted her to change, per se, but Danielle didn't want to be treated like she was a yoyo, going back and forth between being with him and then being tossed away. She needed someone she could count on, she needed someone who clearly knew what he felt about her because she was so wonderful. On the other hand, she also knew that vampires weren't emotive creatures by nature so possessing emotional feelings for someone - especially a human - must be hard to admit or even realize. Nikolai Dragulia taking a human wife he actually loved was a big deal for the vampire community. Granted, Nikolai was nowhere near as old as Alek but the sentiment was the same: vampires could feel and could express those feelings. But perhaps some vampires expressed their feelings easier than others. Especially old vampires.
"What do you mean, though?" Danielle asked, picking her head up and looking at Aubrey. "About Luke and Alek not getting along?"
"The NDS and vampires have never gotten along," Aubrey said. "Who do you think outed them in the first place? Vampires and werewolves were fine flying under the radar. Their power came in secrecy and ignorance. When the NDS made the announcement that supernaturals existed. Luke is something other... I don't know what he is but he's definitely not human. And Alek doesn't like anyone threatening him or those he cares about." She gave Danielle a small smile. "And whether you realize it or not, he does care about you in his own way. I don't know much about him - I've never had a reason to really research him. I do know, though, he doesn't sleep with the same woman twice. I don't know why but once he does it for a night, he doesn't go back. The fact that he wants to be with you exclusively, even if it's just for sex, means you're different."
Danielle shrugged. "We haven't had the exclusive talk, exactly," she murmured. She opened her mouth, ready to carry on, when someone pounded on Danielle's front door. She paused midsentence and shot a furrowed brow at Aubrey, who shrugged, genuinely perplexed by the interruption.
Danielle stood and walked over to the peephole. She was surprised to find her dorm advisor outside. When Danielle opened the door, Karen said, "I'm getting everyone to the common room so they can watch what's going on in the news." She was slightly breathless and had to push up her glasses with her index finger more than once. "It's an emergency."
With that, she left to bang on the next door. Danielle looked back at Aubrey, and without a word, they both silently decided to head to the common room.
17
Danielle's eyes widened as she took in the tall, charismatic human-turned-werewolf as he began to pace up and down in front of the camera. He had his black hair slicked back, each lock perfectly in place, and crystal blue eyes. There were dimples in both of his cheeks, slightly masked because of the scruff that littered the lower half of his face. His jawline was crisp and well-defined. He had bro
ad shoulders and muscled long arms that caused the leather jacket he wore to bulge. He was tall and stocky, and as Danielle continued to stare at him, she doubted there was an inch of fat left on his body. He wore denim jeans that fit in the right places and brown leather boots that looked worn from overuse. He was extremely handsome in a rugged sort of way and it was hard for Danielle to look away from him. He was both captivating and commanding, and that made him even more dangerous than he already was.
"Well, well, well, look who we have here," he drawled in a deep, raspy voice that caused Danielle to get goosebumps up and down her arms. "Somerset. I was born and raised here, you know, and when I was eighteen fucking years old, I joined the marines so I could be on the front lines, defending my country and my hometown from foreign threats. I loved being a marine. It was the best time of my life, and let me tell you, I've fucked a lot of beautiful women."
Danielle wrinkled her brow and shot Aubrey a look. "How is he allowed to say this stuff on television?" she murmured, trying to keep her voice down so she wouldn't draw attention to herself. Everyone else in the common room was frozen in place, completely silent.
"He must have control of the networks," Aubrey replied. Her gaze was focused on Noah and Danielle couldn't blame her. "My bet is, he has a hacker over at his compound. Wouldn't surprise me in the least, not when half our population is sympathetic to his cause."
"Yet everyone is afraid of Shane August?" Danielle asked doubtfully.
"When Noah kills, he's precise," Aubrey replied. "To us, its nonsensical but to those it affects, it’s rational. With Shane August, he may seem like he's completely void of emotion, but his murders are rooted in emotion and justice. He wants revenge on those he felt wronged him." She glanced over at Danielle. "It doesn't help that Noah is ridiculously attractive. I mean, Shane is too, don't get me wrong. Wait, I'm not saying I have a thing for serial killers. Okay." Aubrey paused and took a breath. "All I'm saying is that Noah is charming and attractive, Shane is deadly and silent. One is going to evoke understanding and maybe even compassion. The other is going to evoke fear and terror."
The Somerset Series: A Box Set: Books 2-4 Page 41