by Milly Taiden
He never would.
The door to the cabin opened. A female voice said, “Darling, why are you yelling?”
She turned around. “Because these men set the houses on fire.”
They didn’t stick around to see what the mother said. The three were gone as fast as their wolves allowed. Luck was on their side when they were able to jump onto a new-fangled iron horse called a locomotive. They rode the lines to the East Coast.
From there he started his life’s new goal. Revenge.
NINE
They watched the door to the vampire guesthouse open. Roen elbowed Trevan, but he was already itching to go. He set them up downwind from the home, hoping he could catch her coming out on her own during the daylight hours. Bingo. Did he know her or what? A little twang pinched his heart. He brushed it aside to focus on his prey.
His mate stepped outside. His breath whooshed from his body. It’d been a couple months since he’d seen her last, and damn, she was beautiful. More so than when he last saw her. She crossed the porch, headed for the steps leading to the sidewalk. She stopped and took in a big breath, as if smelling something.
His finger refused to pull the trigger. He reminded himself why he was doing this and that it was only a tranquilizer, not a bullet. Not that a bullet would hurt her any more. In his periphery, he saw the other two eyeing him. He squeezed the trigger.
The dart hit exactly where he wanted, between her shoulder blades where it was harder to reach. She spun around and somehow found his eyes through the cluster of forest between them. His mate was not a happy camper. Her fingers plucked the shaft as her legs gave way, sending her to the grass. The men came from their hiding place and hurried to their victim.
Alain reached out for her first and Trevan about ripped his arm off. He couldn’t help his growl, and his eyes probably showed his animal. But dammit, no one would touch his mate except him. Maybe he should share that mate fact with the others. The other two probably suspected something, but mate would never cross their minds. Species didn’t mix, for the most part.
As he stood with his precious cargo, a curtain on the shadowed side of the house moved. Good. He told them he’d take care of her, and that was exactly what he planned to do. Part one of his strategy was completed. Now he needed to make up part two.
Alain brought the truck around and they quickly loaded, him in the back with his mate.
“Where am I going?”
“Siri, I need directions to Central Wolfe pack,” Roen said into his phone.
He groaned. A phone couldn’t give directions. “Take the next left to Interstate 20 West.” Well, fuck him.
They rode in silence while Siri guided them to their destination. He looked down at the beautiful face on his lap. He had every man’s dream: a gorgeous woman with her face between his legs. His cock stirred. Not yet, boy. She had to be conscious, at least.
His heart felt torn. His life’s mission rammed heads with his luscious mate. How did one change eighty years of hate into love? Ha, have Siri answer that! Damn phone. He sighed and stared out the window.
Alain glanced in the rearview mirror. “She’s your mate, isn’t she?”
He rubbed a hand over his face. “She is.”
“How can that be? You’re a wolf, she’s a vamp. That doesn’t happen, does it?” Alain asked.
“Apparently, it does.”
“What are you going to do? She’s the last Valderi, right?”
He nodded.
Roen lifted his head from his toy. “Wanna know what I think?”
He smirked. “Let me think about it.” Roen called him a shithead and threw a wrapper from their breakfast tacos at him. “Lay it on us, Roen.”
Roen sat straighter in his seat as if that would make him look smarter. For fuck’s sake, they’d been together for a century; he knew how the man thought.
“I think this was planned by the powers who be. Both of you are the last of a feud started too long ago. Not to mention the end of your family trees. I see this as the time to heal each other through combining your souls like mates are supposed to do.”
Well, butter his ass and call him a biscuit. He thought he knew how the man thought. He sure as hell wasn’t expecting something like that. Maybe the phone had taken control of his brain.
“Wow, Roe,” Trevan said, “never saw that coming from your mouth.”
“Yeah,” Alain grinned. “It almost sounded romantic and mushy.”
Roen grunted. “Whatever. Just don’t tell anyone I said it. I have a reputation to keep up.” The men laughed.
“What reputation would that be, Roen?” Alain asked. “The biggest schmuck on the planet?”
Roen flipped him off. “It’s nice to know you think so highly of me, my friends.”
“You know we’re just giving you shit because you’re the first one chicks flock to,” Alain admitted.
“That’s because I look mature and studly. The one in the backseat still looks like a kid compared to us,” Roen said.
Alain looked into the rearview mirror again. “Yeah, why is that, man? You still look under thirty. We’re mid-thirties.”
He yanked his collar forward and smirked. “I got good genes.”
“Fuck me,” Alain said. “Your jeans come from the boy’s section at Walmart.”
“Better than the old man’s department,” Trevan shot back.
Roen laughed. “It’s getting deep in here. Need my waders to get through all the shit being flung.”
Trevan threw the balled up taco wrapper at him with a smile. “Shut it. Go back to your damn phone. It was peaceful before you started yappin’.”
“Me?” Roen feigned surprise, slapping his hand on his chest. “I recall the other chump in the truck asking what you were going to do about the lady with her head in your lap.”
Trevan growled at Roen, his wolf just under skin.
Roen turned forward in his seat, hands up in surrender. “Don’t whine at me. I’m just sayin’.”
One thing was certain, even if he couldn’t have her, no one else would.
TEN
Aria dreamed Trevan was in her bed, pounding into her like there was no tomorrow. His cock was thick and fucking hard; it felt so good gliding up and down her inner walls.
She hadn’t had sex for a long time. She didn’t need it, but more importantly, no one ever appealed to her. She’d had an occasional tryst or two in her time on this earth. But either her companions sucked (actually, didn’t suck was more like it) or she was broken. The big O never even crept into the picture with them. For her, sex was a messy, I’d rather not, thing.
But dear Trevan was the exact opposite of her previous lovers. Fuck, she’d never get out of bed with him in it. She knew he’d be awesome under the sheets.
So while they’re going at it like rabbits in the dream, her bedroom door opens and in walks Emma Wolfe in a little black and white French maid’s costume. She has a duster in one hand, a glass of wine in the other, and her katana strapped to her back. Aria remembered whipping it through the air to un-attach Anton’s head from his body.
“Oh, don’t mind me,” Emma said. “I’m just waiting for your kids to pop out.”
Trevan was still pounding away, oblivious to Emma’s presence. Aria was about to tell Emma to leave when a furry, wagging-tail rear end backs from under the covers. Was that her child? A baby wolf? His little legs and tail were so cute. The pup pulled free of the covers and flipped around to see her.
Instead of adorable puppy eyes and lolling tongue, it had an angry vampire face scrunched in a hiss, fangs hanging low. It lunged for her eyes.
Aria sat bolt upright in a bed, breathing heavily. The dream faded quickly. Her name was called from a distance in the house she was in. She looked around the room. It was a pleasant guestroom with warm colors and very inviting. Simple and comfortable.
The door flew open and Emma stood on the other side, barely containing herself from running in. She had the happiest expression Aria had
seen in a while. She had forgotten how nice it was to see shining faces. Since the battle at her nightclub, no one had done anything but frown.
“Emma?” she said as she threw off the covers to her fully-clothed body. “How the hell did I get here? Wait.” Her memory recalled something stinging her in the back, and Trevan’s eyes screaming anger at her. She hadn’t even done anything wrong yet. “How did I get here? Are we at your home?”
Her wolf friend bounced into the room and wrapped her arms around Aria. “It’s so awesome to see you again. I’ve missed you.”
“Great to see you, too. But I still don’t know how or really why I’m here.”
Emma pulled back. “Let’s start with we’re at my alpha home with the Central pack.”
Aria wasn’t expecting that, but fine. She’d roll with it.
“And to answer your other question, Trevan and his friends brought you here. And I don’t know why, so don’t ask.”
Okay, that was too confusing. “Why would they do—” Then it hit her. The object that tagged her back was a tranq dart. Anger erupted within her. “He tranquilized me. The bastard shot me with a fucking dart!” She stepped around Emma. “Where is he? I’m gonna rip his balls off and feed them to the pigs.”
Her friend lunged for her hand. “Aria, settle down. Trevan isn’t here. He and Mason left after dropping you off. And you can’t rip his balls off.“
She hated when someone told her she couldn’t do something. Even friends. “Why not?” She fisted her other hand.
Emma looked at her sadly. “We don’t have pigs.” After a heartbeat, Aria busted out in laughter. It felt so good to release the tension and anxiety she’d kept bottled for so long now. If anyone could make her laugh, it was Emma.
Still holding her hand, Emma dragged her forward. “Let’s go to the kitchen. I’m hungry.” Aria took a deep breath through her nose.
“Oh my god. You’re pregnant.”
Emma whipped around. “You can smell I’m different?”
“Yes. And for women, that usually means their having a baby.” She wrapped her arms around her friend and gave her tight squeeze. “You don’t even show.”
Emma rolled her eyes. “Well, I do have a lot here to begin with, and it’s only the size of a grape, the doctor said.”
“Yeah, but still,” Aria said. “You guys must be thrilled.”
Emma grabbed her hand again and pulled her through the door. “That’s an understatement. Mason is already having morning sickness.”
Aria spit out a laugh. “Oh my god. I can so see that, too.”
When reaching the kitchen, Aria sat at the table while Emma pulled out a box of Oreos and tub of ice cream from the freezer. “I’d offer you something to drink, but I know we don’t have your preference.”
Aria lifted a brow at the contents Emma set on the table. “That’s your new diet?”
Emma grinned. “Isn’t it great. I’d stay pregnant forever if I could eat this all the time.” She quickly added, “Don’t tell Mason that. He’d take me up on it.” They giggled.
Emma scooped out a bite of ice cream with a cookie. “So, I’m guessing you and Trevan haven’t mated yet.”
She about fell out of her chair. “Emma? Are you serious? Why would you say that?”
Her friend pointed a half-eaten cookie at her. “Because, woman, everyone but you and him see you are natural mates. You both need to shut up, accept it, mate, and move on.”
She snorted. “Look who’s talking. How long did it take you and Mason to finally mate?”
“No, that doesn’t count.” Emma waved a new cookie in the air. “He’s a mutt. That excuses all the dumb stuff he does.”
“Trevan is a mutt, too.”
Emma bit into a cookie topped with ice cream. “Oh, yeah. Forgot he was a wolf. He feels vampish to me.”
“Vampish?”
“Yeah, you know,” she shrugged, “like a vampire but not.”
“Emma,” she said, “either you’re a vamp or you’re not. There isn’t much leeway there.”
Her friend raised a shoulder then dropped it. “Eh, maybe yes, maybe no.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means, dear vamp,” Emma started, “I don’t care if you’re different species, you’re still mates and you need to get it on and start a family. How much longer can you have kids? I remember you mentioning your fortieth birthday once.”
“That was the simple answer for you at the time. It’s sort of complicated.”
“Complicated how?”
“It’s not my fortieth birthday, per se. It’s more like when my body reaches the equivalent of a forty-year old.”
“Oh, when’s that?” Emma asked.
“It’s not an exact science for the blood borne, but I’m thinking a few hundred years.”
Emma jerked forward, slapping her chest, coughing. Aria jumped from her chair and patted her back. “You all right? I didn’t mean to startle you.”
Through hacks, Emma managed, “No, no. I’m okay. I just wasn’t expecting that…that amount of time. How old are you? If you don’t mind me asking.”
She made her way back to the chair. “You know I’m not vain like that. I’m around a hundred.”
“Holy cow, Aria. You look twenty-five. Is that normal to age so slowly?”
“Yeah, comes with the territory. You wolves age slower, too, right?”
“Mason said something about it once when I asked him how old his parents were. I forgot what the ratio to human years is. Need to ask again.”
The sound of the front door opening took their attention. Emma called out, “We’re in the kitchen, darling mutt.”
A deep, playful voice replied, “Perfect, brat. Are you shoeless?”
Emma looked at Aria with a questioning look. “No shoes on. Why?”
“Because,” an incredibly gorgeous man said from the kitchen entry, “you’re right where I want you. Barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen.”
“Mason Wolfe!” She threw a cookie at him, hitting him in the chest and it crumbled to the floor. Both his hands held a clear plastic pitcher filled with red liquid. Trevan walked in behind him.
Aria sprang from her chair, forgotten anger flaring at the sight of his hot body. In a flash, she had Trevan by the throat, pinned to the ground. She should kill him now.
ELEVEN
Trevan walked into the kitchen behind Mason. As soon as he came through the front door, he scented Aria immediately. Fuck, she smelled good. She was up and probably more pissed-off than she’d ever been. He wasn’t looking forward to that confrontation. Maybe with others present, she wouldn’t kill him right away.
Suddenly he lay on his back outside the kitchen entry. With cold hands around his throat, he decided the presence of others didn’t mean squat to Aria.
“Hello, gorgeous,” he breathed out.
“Don’t hello me, you jerk. You shot me with a tranq dart. I should kill you and be done with you.”
Damn, she was so beautiful when mad. Her cheeks were blushed and her curly dark hair dangled over her shoulders, giving them a curtain of privacy. Good god, how could he say no to this woman? She called to his every cell.
“Kill me? Were you locked in a dungeon when you woke?” He started feeling a bit light headed from lack of air.
“No.”
“Were you tied up or restrained in any way?” Her grip loosened.
“No.”
“Are you in a stranger’s home?”
Aria started to crawl off him. “Fine. I’ll let you live, but don’t do it again.” When her hands moved from his neck, he snagged one with his fingers. He brought it to his lips and kissed each knuckle. She gasped quietly. Didn’t matter. He still heard it.
She smelled so good. He lifted her index finger and sucked it into his mouth. Her eyes turned feral. His wolf catapulted front and center. Mine. He would have her.
“Okay, down there,” Emma said. “That’s enough. Save it for later. No one does the nast
y on my kitchen floor, unless it’s me, of course.”
He heard a whisper from farther inside. “You brat. Don’t tell them that.”
Aria smiled so she probably heard it, too. She got to her feet and headed toward the table. He laughed when she didn’t offer a hand to help him up. He knew she’d do that. She looked over her shoulder and winked at him—winked at him!—with a flirty smile on her lips. He liked playing chase. And it was on.
Emma looked at the pitchers in her hubby’s hands, then said, “Is that what I think it is?”
Mason set the two pitchers on the counter. “I believe it is. And by the way, love, we are never eating beef again.”
Emma pulled a cup from the cabinet. “Are you crazy? Why not?”
The men laughed. “Don’t be a wuss, wolf man. It wasn’t that bad.”
“Hey. I’m man enough to admit I puked on my shoes at a processing—” He slapped a hand over his mouth as if holding back another spew. “It was beyond disgusting.”
Alain shrugged. “We’ve spent a lot of time in the wilderness, so we’re probably a bit more used to that kind of thing.”
Emma set the glass of blood in front of Aria. He saw her eyes light up as she grabbed the cup. As he watched her drink, he thought he’d find it disgusting beyond belief. But it wasn’t. His wolf ate fresh prey all the time. Wasn’t so different than that.
Emma set one of the pitchers on the table. “You guys probably haven’t slept in a while, have you? Trevan, you three are welcome to any of the guestrooms. Aria, since you’re a vamp, it’d be better if you stayed in the guesthouse behind the pool. We don’t need some wolf walking in and freaking out from a strange vamp being here. The guest place is nice, two bedrooms and mini-kitchen.”
Alain yawned. “Sleep would be beyond great.” Roen had his nose inches from his phone’s screen. Must’ve found a new game. Trevan shook his head and picked up the pitcher of blood.
“I’ll carry this out for you.” He looked at his guys. “Let’s get a few hours of sleep then get back on the road. I want to check out the vamp town while everyone is under.” Both his guys nodded, even Roen, and left the room.