by Laken Cane
In a lightning quick slash he dragged the knife across her chest, resting the point at her throat. “See how much I love you?”
Use the pain. It’s what I do.
She forced her terror away, forced herself calm.
It’s what I do.
She closed her eyes and concentrated on that agony. She took it apart, then began to put it back together into a pain she could endure.
She took the fear and wrapped it in rage, rage she’d been born with.
Then she looked at him.
“Hello, monster,” he said. “It’s been too long.”
She smiled.
“Fuck you,” Jeremy murmured.
“No, baby. Fuck you.”
She grabbed his throat. She didn’t need a fucking shiv.
The living room door splintered and burst inward. She heard it, felt it.
The berserker was coming.
Her crew was coming.
But she didn’t need them.
They exploded into the room, her men, ready to tear Jeremy apart.
She sat up, holding him by the throat in a grip he’d never escape. Ellis screamed when he saw her face and ran mindlessly for her, but Jack grabbed him and tossed him away.
“Do not take my kill,” she said, recognizing that her voice was different, but unsure how. She didn’t care. “I’ve got this.”
But they were men who loved her, and they all wanted a piece of the evil.
And they deserved it.
She acquiesced.
A girl made sacrifices for those she loved.
She lessened her grip on his throat.
He was too mad—too insane—to be as afraid as he should have been. “I’ll die,” he whispered, his words just for her, “but you’ll spend eternity with me.” He brought the shiv up, preparing to take her to hell with him.
Her men snatched him away then, none of them willing to sacrifice. As they hacked him to pieces, Ellis leaped onto the bed with her, covering her bloody body with his.
She was fading from the blood loss, devastated by the silver, in agony from the cuts.
Ellis held his wrist to her little fangs. “Take the blood, Rune. Take the blood.”
But the berserker pulled her out from under Ellie, his face covered with blood not his own.
Jeremy’s malevolent blood decorated the walls of her bedroom, his howls of agony fading to sighs of death.
Strad looked at Ellis. “I will feed her.”
“Okay,” Ellis said. “Okay.”
Levi stood beside Ellis, his eyes fierce, bright. “Thank you, Rune, for allowing us to avenge you. To avenge Lex.”
She smiled. “Thank you, baby.”
Or that’s what she meant to say. Maybe she spoke, or maybe she didn’t.
But she forgot him as Strad carried her to the living room where things were less bloody and crowded. Her men would deal with Jeremy’s body and the mess they’d left behind.
He sat in the big armchair and cradled her in his arms, his embrace so different from Jeremy’s she didn’t know how to take it.
He stared down at her, his eyes as fierce as Levi’s had been, as dark as the night outside her window. “You will feed from me. But first I will take the taste of that bastard from your mouth.”
He lowered his lips to hers, snatching the breath from her lungs, the thoughts from her head. There was only the feeling of his kiss, his mouth, his body.
The pain was chased away by his kiss, and she gladly drowned in the embrace from a man who would never hurt her.
He finally dragged his mouth from hers, his eyes hot. When he held his wrist to her mouth, she shoved it away.
Shoved it away and dropped her fangs, then went for his throat.
Fuck a wrist. His throat was so much more…appetizing.
“Oh fuck,” he whispered.
I am my monster.
My monster is me.
And they both smiled as they fed on the blood of a berserker.
About Laken Cane
The coffee addicted urban fantasy/paranormal and horror writer Laken Cane lives in Southern Ohio with her genius son, two Yorkies named Daphnis and Lexi, and one Golden named Chloe who rules them all.
From the author—
Authors need reviews like vampires need blood! If you’ve enjoyed this book, would you consider rating it and reviewing it on Amazon.com?
Books and reading order in the Rune Alexander series:
1. Shiv Crew
2. Blood and Bite
3. Strange Trouble
4. Obsidian Wings
5. New Regime
6. Wormwood Echoes
7. The Witch’s Daughter
8. Killing Land
9. Kill Switch
10. Chasing Darkness
You can find Laken at www.facebook.com/laken.cane.3 and www.lakencane.com
Blood and Bite
By Laken Cane
Copyright © 2013 Laken Cane
All rights reserved.
The author acknowledges the trademark status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, association with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment. Ebook copies may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share with a friend, please buy an extra copy, and thank you for respecting the author’s work.
For more information about the author, you can find her online at: www.lakencane.com
www.facebook.com/laken.cane.3
www.twitter.com/lakencane
and www.amazon.com/author/lakencane
Dedication
To my readers
Table of Contents
Part One
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Part Two
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Part One
DEVASTATION
Chapter One
There would always be monsters.
Pretty monsters, sad monsters, bad monsters.
And Rune.
She stayed in the exclusive shrink clinic for eight weeks. They would have kept her forever if she’d have allowed it. She wouldn’t.
Shiv Crew needed her and she’d been well enough to get the hell out of New York and back to Ohio. God, she’d missed River County.
As soon as she entered Spiritgrove she called her best friend and assistant, Ellis. He’d want to know she was back.
“Hi baby,” she said, when he answered.
“Rune! Why are you calling so early?”
Ellis worried a lot—at least about her. “I’m in town.”
Silence.
“Ellie?”
“You left the clinic?”
“It was time. No lectures, please.”
“Actually…”
“What?”
“Since you’re already in town…”
“Ellis, spit it the fuck out. What’s wrong?”
He sighed. “The crew is in trouble.”
She shifted the phone to her other ear, her heart beginning to race. “Tell
me.”
“They’re in the graveyard. Rock County wolves decided to take them over—give them an official alpha. One of your wolves called for help.”
Rock County was a backward, rough county run by a skewed justice system, dirty cops, and a scary-ass mayor who had the Governor in his pocket.
She slammed on her brakes, then made a U-turn that nearly put her SUV on its side. “I’m headed to Wormwood now. Shiv Crew can’t handle a few trespassing wolves?”
“Raze is still in jail, Strad is in Pennsylvania, and Z is in court. It’s just Jack and the twins and they could use the help.”
She grinned. “Happy to be of service.” Ecstatic.
“They’ll be glad to see you. As will I. Come to the office as soon as you’ve kicked the wolves into shape, okay?”
“Where is Lex?”
He hesitated. “She’s here with me.”
“Ellis. What aren’t you telling me?”
“Later. When you’re here.”
Fuck. “Okay. Where in Wormwood?”
“East entrance, third gate.”
“See you in a few, baby.” She tossed her cell into the passenger seat and broke every speed limit posted to get to Wormwood. Her monster was screaming for a fight. It’d been too long since she’d gotten to kick some ass. Eagerness nipped at her heels like a dog, urging her along.
Fucking clinic was as tame as a kindergarten class.
Physically, anyway. Mentally, they’d worn her out.
She stopped outside the gates of the vast graveyard, almost putting herself through the windshield with her abrupt halt. She grabbed her gun and a shiv and was inside Wormwood ten seconds later.
She heard the fight before she saw it. Jack roared his fury and she sprinted toward the sound.
Fucking Others.
The twins fought back to back, slashing any wolf stupid enough to get near them, and obviously these were some stupid wolves. The Others showed no fear as they leaped and twisted and hurled their huge furry bodies at her men.
An enormous black wolf flew at Jack, hitting him in the chest and sending the big man reeling backward into a crumbly old tombstone.
Rune’s wolves fought as well, but there were only eleven of them and not all of the eleven had shown up for the fight. They weren’t the toughest wolves she’d ever met. Abused by their former alpha, they were, for the most part, timid and afraid.
Some of them had already hit the ground, too injured to continue fighting. They’d heal but it could take a while, depending on the damage.
She saw everything in an instant—right before her monster came and turned her into a bloodthirsty killer.
Dropping her fangs she threw herself into the fight, keeping her claws inside. They got in the way when she was fighting with shivs and guns.
She really didn’t want to shoot any of the bastards but when a few dozen trespassing wolves came to steal her pack and attack three of her men, fair went out the window.
She shot four of them before anyone realized she was there. She didn’t shoot to kill, but with explosions of silver wreaking havoc on their bodies, they’d wish she had.
Getting shot full of silver was fucking agony. She knew from personal experience.
Levi and Denim—the twins—caught sight of her first. “Rune!” Levi yelled.
Jack whooped with joy and slung the black wolf halfway across Wormwood.
Rune immediately recognized the alpha. The huge wolf had been watching the fight, sitting on a large rock as though it were his throne.
When he saw Rune watching he stood, dropped his head low between his massive shoulder blades, and roared.
She wasn’t afraid of a fucking alpha. She’d killed the last one that had messed with River County wolves, and she’d kill this one just as happily.
But the more logical part of her was cautious. Do you want to be responsible for more wolves?
Not so much.
After all, killing the last alpha was why she was now the reluctant leader of the River County pack.
She tossed the gun to Jack and thumped her chest with the hand that held the shiv. “Come on!” Her scream echoed through Wormwood, drawing some new arrivals.
That was okay. She could fight in front of an audience.
The alpha, shaggy, brown, and huge, jumped off the rock. With an almost lazy stride, he went for Rune.
Rune grinned and dropped her shiv, then sent her claws bursting through the tips of her fingers. She had fucking built-in shivs. Not silver—which would mess with an Other in ways her claws couldn’t—but she could take the alpha down without silver.
Mutant vampire against wolf alpha.
It was a good day.
The alpha’s pack continued occupying Jack and the twins, but she knew her men would toss worried glances her way when they could. She’d been out of commission for a while—they were bound to wonder if she was up to speed.
She and the alpha ran at each other. Thanks to the Other within her, Rune had speeds to rival those of a master vampire. The alpha wolf’s expression suddenly changed—and Rune had a millisecond to enjoy the dawning realization in his eyes.
Yeah bitch, I’m that Other.
She sidestepped at the last second, dragging her claws across the alpha’s chest then spinning around to kick him in the back before he could so much as blink.
She’d fought a lot worse than a pissy alpha and had come out on top. The wolf didn’t have a chance.
Enjoying herself a little too much, Rune darted away from the enraged wolf, laughing. Since the Hawthorne Ridge battle, she’d grown in power.
Sometimes she thought she could do anything. She was invincible.
But in the next second she found herself flat out on the ground, staring up at the angry wolf. Someone had ambushed her—had dealt her a solid blow to the back of her head while she’d been playing with the alpha.
Okay, so maybe not invincible.
Still, she might have been down but she was most definitely not out.
The alpha took over, shoving the bushwhacker out of the way and opening his mouth as he went for her throat.
She heard Jack yell as she rolled out of the way and jumped with wobbly determination to her feet. She could take a little spanking, but now she was mad. And she was done playing.
The alpha hesitated.
Rune smiled.
She went for the wolf who’d attacked her from behind first, driving her claws into his chest and dropping him where he stood.
The alpha could have run, but he didn’t. He stood his ground and prepared to fight to the death. His death.
She could see it in his eyes, and that was the only thing that stopped her from ripping him to pieces. She respected courage.
Panting, she stared at him. “Call off your fucking wolves and end this now, dude. I’ll let you walk away.”
He did nothing for a long moment, but finally slid into a shift as seamless and quick as any she’d seen.
He was a smart wolf.
She fought to keep her stare off his body. When she caught a gleam of mockery deep inside his brown eyes, she lifted an eyebrow and let her interested gaze take a leisurely trip over his bare skin.
The man was hot. Pretty much perfect, if one liked long, lean lines, defined abs, and muscled chests.
He crossed his arms, ignoring the deep slashes left by her claws. “Pack, over here. Behind me.”
The fight had slowed down considerably. The ground was littered with dead and injured wolves. The ones who belonged to him wasted no time in doing as he’d commanded.
“What’s your name?” she asked him.
“I’m Darius Elliot.”
“I am—”
“I know who you are.”
At a touch on her shoulder she turned her head, giving a quick smile of hello to Jack and the twins. “That was a nice welcome home, boys.”
Jack grinned, adjusting his black eye patch. He’d lost his eye in the Hawthorne fight, and though a quick thought of
guilt and regret streaked through her it was just that—a quick thought which she acknowledged and then released.
It wasn’t something for which she should blame herself.
The shrinks really had helped.
Was she cured? No. But she was a lot less likely to pick up strange men and have them back to her house for a little slash and tickle.
Of course, she hadn’t been tested yet. Time would tell how well she really was.
The beautiful twins looked a little different, somehow. More…adult. She winked at them and then turned her attention back to the strange wolves.
“Why the fuck are you in our territory?” she asked. She nodded at the River County wolves—her wolves—who’d spread in a semicircle around Rune and the men. “These wolves aren’t up for grabs.”
The alpha stared down his nose. “Any pack with no leader is weak. I will take them.” But despite his arrogance, there was a spark of something a little more desperate inside his eyes.
“Dude. They have an alpha.”
He frowned, and glanced at his pack. “I was told otherwise.”
“You were misinformed.”
He stared at the River County wolves. “I see no alpha.”
“Look at me,” she told him. “Dude. Look at me.”
He stopped his study of the River County wolves and put his sharp stare back on her. “I’m looking at you. Now what?”
“Now, you see an alpha.”
“You don’t mean—”
“Yeah. I do mean.”
And finally, he understood. “They need a wolf to lead them, not a…” he gestured at her. “Whatever you are.”
“I agree, but until one of them fights his or her way to the top or I find someone suitable, I’m it.”
He scoffed. “Raggedy bunch of weak pups, they’re not dominant enough to fight for alpha. I made an offer for them. Give them to me.”
“No. They belong here, not in Rock County. You planning on moving here?”
He actually hesitated, as though thinking it over. Then, “No. Rock County needs me.”
“Then what you’re doing right now is wasting my time.” She glanced around at the wolves on the ground. “And you wasted a lot of lives. Pick up your dead and injured and get the fuck out of my city.”