Bite Me (London Undead)

by PJ Schnyder

  Bite Me

  By PJ Schnyder

  Book one of London Undead

  Few people walk the streets of London since the zombie outbreak, but that’s not an issue for Seth. As a werewolf, he can handle himself and save humans reckless enough to take a nighttime stroll. While on patrol he comes across a group of people under attack. The one woman brave enough to take a stand against the zombies catches his eye—and not just because of her way with a gun. Learning the beautiful woman is homeless and fends for herself only intensifies his urge to protect and care for her.

  Maisie can’t help but admit that she’s attracted to her werewolf rescuer. She’s drawn to Seth’s strength and ferocity, and finds herself opening up to him in ways she never imagined, even though she’s determined to not rely on Seth or anyone else. She doesn’t want another person to get hurt—or die—for her sake. She has enough scars, physical and emotional, from the last time...

  But when Seth realizes something is drawing the zombies to Maisie, there may be nothing he can do to save her...

  31,000 words

  Dear Reader,

  I’m writing this just after having returned from Disney World. It wasn’t my first trip to Disney and it won’t be my last. Even though I’m not fond of big crowds, I get sick if I even look at a twisty ride (though I still like to ride a few) and by the end of our visit we’re all invariably cranky, I still love it there. Disney truly has created something magical.

  Luckily, for those of you who don’t have a trip to Disney in your future, they’re not the only ones who can create something magical. Every month, Carina Press authors deliver us books that transport us to new times, new places and new adventures. This month is no different!

  I’m pleased to introduce New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Tyler’s new series, launching this month. This romance, set in post-apocalypse America, centers around the survival of the fittest: the motorcycle gangs of the future. Dark, edgy and steamy, Defiance is the first in this can’t-miss new series.

  Another New York Times bestselling author, Marie Force, is back with the next installment in her bestselling romantic suspense series. An error on the baseball field leads to murder in Fatal Mistake.

  And I’m happy to welcome Victoria Davies to Carina Press with her newest paranormal romance, Seducing the Demon Huntress.

  Joining these three is a lineup of fantastic authors returning to Carina Press. Don’t miss the latest installment of Love Letters Volume 3: Wicked Whispers. Verbal foreplay goes a long way in these four steamy stories. From author Christine d’Abo comes Sexcapades. Sparks fly between two rival internet bloggers in this erotic contemporary romance.

  Our last erotic offering for the month of June is the long-awaited sequel to Dana Marie Bell’s Blood of the Maple. In Throne of Oak, dark forces are converging on Maggie’s Grove, and a horde of hunters stalk supernaturals from the shadows.

  If you’re looking for more paranormal romances, Sheryl Nantus, PJ Schnyder, and Eleri Stone all have releases this month. Check out the new installments from Sheryl and Eleri respectively, Family Pride and Witch Bound. Meanwhile, join PJ on a new adventure as she kicks off her London Undead series with Bite Me. Zombies have taken over London and a werewolf finds himself protecting a woman who seems determined to put herself in harm’s way.

  Still in the “other world” genres, we have two releases: Fae Sutherland’s Sky Runners, a delicious male/male space opera; and the conclusion to Vivi Anna’s steampunk romance trilogy. The League of Illusion: Destiny wraps up with sorcerer Sebastian Davenport’s story.

  If you’re a fan of Downton Abbey, you’ll want to make sure you’re not missing out on Julie Rowe’s War Girls books. World War I generated many heroes—only some of them were men. Check out Enticing the Spymaster, her newest release, and go back and catch up with Saving the Rifleman, the first in this series. And while you’re in the past, why not stay there? Wendy Soliman’s Beguiling the Barrister also transports readers to a past time in this regency romance.

  Last but not least, two powerhouse authors have new releases to center you in the here and now. HelenKay Dimon explores love and lust in her return to Holloway with contemporary romance Just What He Wanted. Sexy Travis is the story we’ve all been waiting for!

  Adrienne Giordano rounds out our month of magical releases with Opposing Forces. In this romantic suspense, when a pharmaceutical distribution manager uncovers secret drug shipments at work, she and a savvy executive with political ties must risk everything—including their hearts—to stop the criminals and stay alive.

  No matter where your reading tastes take you, whether it’s the past, the future, or an alternate world, we’ve got an extensive catalog to help give you a magical experience without ever leaving the comfort of your own house (or needing to stand in line!).

  We love to hear from readers, and you can email us your thoughts, comments and questions to generalinquiries@carinapress.com. You can also interact with Carina Press staff and authors on our blog, Twitter stream and Facebook fan page.

  Happy reading!

  ~Angela James

  Executive Editor, Carina Press

  www.carinapress.com

  www.twitter.com/carinapress

  www.facebook.com/carinapress

  Dedication

  For Mallory. I’m so happy I was able to give you a story with zombies.

  Acknowledgements

  My thanks to Matthew for helping me with research and never hesitating when I asked him random questions about how big a hole a bullet would leave upon exiting the back of a head. And thank you to Kevin for beta reading this in record time and being a sounding board for ways to make this story better.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  Seth struggled with the corpse as it twisted and groaned in his hold, trying to get a bite out of him. “Hurry up and get what we bloody came here for before I kill the bugger.”

  The zombie wasn’t near a match for him. In his phase-form, a supernatural meld of man and wolf, Seth towered over the struggling corpse. Killing it would’ve been easy. But they’d come out on this hunt for more than just the kill. He’d chosen phase-form so he had hands to hold the blighter for his pack mate but still had the protection his fur afforded him as the thing clawed and bit.

  Course, if any normal human happened into the alley, they’d see the stuff of nightmares—two huge men with clawed hands and feet and the faces of wolves grappling with the living dead. Good thing most people kept to their homes these days.

  “Steady on,” Danny ground out, and he grasped the thing’s skull with a clawed hand. “Got the muscle and skin samples, just trying to get a bit of what’s left of his brain.”

  “Mush, that’s all that’s left in these, even the new ones.” Seth hoisted the zombie off its feet.

  “All right, that’s got it. Good to kill the thing now.”

  With a snarl, Seth flung the monster across the alleyway and into a wall. It hit with a sickening crunch. He was on it before it could try to drag itself toward them again, crushing its skull and the remnants of its black-and-grey brain matter into...mush.

  Victory.

  He embraced the euphoria as it washed through his muscles, and if he’d not been standing in the streets of London, he’d have raised his muzzle to the night sky and howled his triumph.

  Next to him, Danny shifted back from his phase-form to human. Painful, that, but Danny was still grin
ning through the finish of the change.

  “See? Not so hard to get the samples I wanted. And that’s one less zombie walking the streets.”

  Seth lifted his lip, baring his still elongated teeth at his smaller pack mate. “Would’ve been quicker just to kill the bugger.”

  “True.” Danny cocked his head sideways, baring his neck and dropping his eyes to the ground in a submissive pose. “But killing them isn’t enough. More keep coming, staying here in London, and we’ve not a clue why. At least if we could learn more about the stages, identify when the infection becomes irreversible...”

  “A human gets bit, they die. Slow, I grant you, and painful, but dead all the same.” Seth snapped his teeth with an audible click. “Then the poor bastard gets back up and tries to eat anyone and anything alive around them. Worse, they can spread the virus before they die, after they die, and while they’re stumbling their way around in the dark. Even bloody vampires don’t create more of themselves that easily. Nothing for it but to crush the zombies until they can’t get up anymore.”

  “It’s a virus—like ours, like the vampirism.” Danny had a way of taking a point and chewing on it. But then, he was the pack’s medic and a biologist by education. Research was just another kind of hunt for him. Answers to hypotheses were every bit as tempting as rabbits for the younger werewolf. “It can be inoculated against at the very least, maybe reversed if caught early enough. We’re the only ones who can safely obtain any samples.”

  And the vampires or the fae. But them, they’d agreed to stay in the shadows. Preferred it, even. Better to let the werewolves stand in the glare of human scrutiny.

  Frustration burned through Seth’s veins, replacing the cleaner euphoria of the earlier fight. “Oy. I came out here to get your bloody samples, didn’t I?”

  Danny’s shoulders slumped.

  Seth reached out, nudged his pack mate’s shoulder. “It was bad enough to see those scientists go out with those blinkered zombie hunters. Seeing one of them come back, dead and walking, was a damned shame. But don’t you go feeling guilt over it, Danny. You warned them.”

  “I could have gone with them.”

  “The humans didn’t want us.” And as alpha, Seth wasn’t going to let one of his own go into one of the infested parks to be used as bait. A werewolf might be immune to the zombie virus, but he could still be eaten alive.

  Dead was dead.

  Danny sighed. “At least we’ve got these samples. With luck, I’ll have enough findings to present to the council in a fortnight and maybe get a few other scientists in to coordinate a proper research group.”

  As if there were any other werewolf scientists. Danny was one of a kind and Seth held on to that with no small amount of pride. Academic, yes, but more than tough enough to hold a dominant place in the London pack as well.

  Seth shook his head, resettled the fur across his neck and shoulders. “Those old wolves are going to be distracted keeping their own borders zombie free. London is my territory, infestation or no. It’s up to me to hold this territory. Any sign I can’t and they’re going to be at our throats.”

  “Zombies don’t care what pack a wolf looks to. They’ll eat us all given a chance.”

  True, that.

  “But most of those alphas don’t have to worry about more than one or two of the things wandering across the countryside. We’re cursed, ever since the incident last year at one of the clinics. They’ve become a bleeding infestation across a good portion of London and the outlying towns.” Seth bit off each word. “Humans are just easy prey. Even with our patrols, there’re plenty of the hungry dead stumbling around the streets at night now.”

  He nudged the rotted remains of the zombie with his clawed toe, curled his lip in disgust. At least the decomposition sped up once a zombie was well and truly stopped. Another few hours and there’d be barely anything but dust and the smell of old death. Good thing too, or his wolves would have left rotted carrion in the alleys every time they encountered one. The humans would’ve needed biohazard teams just to clean up the mess.

  “Some good has come of it.” Danny shifted his weight from one foot to the other. Ever the optimist. “We’re not in hiding anymore. The humans are right happy to have us patrolling London at night, keeping the zombies in check.”

  “Oy, that’s just ace isn’t it?” Seth didn’t bother to hold back his snarl. “Can’t help but wonder if they’ve all decided the enemy of my enemy is my friend, or whatever the old saying is. Got their barricaded check points all set up along the M25 to help refugees, but you don’t see them sending in real help, do you?” He shifted from his phase-form back to human semblance. Pausing, he rolled his head and his neck adjusted with a sharp pop. Better. “I’ve got the Brit government and even the bloody Americans still wanting to have diplomatic talks with us after the zombie infestation is under control. It’s all well and good for now, while they need us, but we’ll have to walk carefully to see to our own once the humans feel safe again.”

  Danny nodded, gazing out toward the open street looking like he wanted to run. Couldn’t blame him, really. Pack politics were a complicated hunt, required too many compromises and not enough action to satisfy the wildness inside them.

  And human politics? Seth liked human politicians only a little more than zombies—and the zombies were more honest for all that they were mindless. At least those monsters were driven by simple hunger, as opposed to convoluted power plays and greed.

  “Come along, then, let’s finish the patrol.” He was too tired to keep the resignation from his voice. Snagging his long coat from where he’d dropped it earlier, he brushed away any dirt and shrugged into it, then shoved his feet into his sneakers. At least Danny had his samples and would be puttering happily in his lab soon enough.

  “More samples are always better.” Danny fell into step at his shoulder, a bit behind him. “There’s a chance the humans are hoping for us and the zombies to eliminate each other, won’t deny that. But the other packs are following your lead and coming out into the open now too. The human military will find they’re not just dealing with the London Pack.”

  “The other packs haven’t quite gone public yet. They’re testing the waters. The vampires and fae, they may never come into the public eye.” Watching to see what would happen to the London pack. Seth took a deep breath, taking in the scents of the city streets, his territory. He needed to keep his own safe. Then, maybe, he could look past to how the rest would fare as they followed his trail.

  Aggravation tightened his chest and he growled, scanning the street beyond the alley for more prey. The fight had been good, clean. An outlet for the annoyance plaguing him under the scrutiny of the other European alphas and the distrust he had for the human governments. He’d not admit it to Danny, but the challenge of holding a zombie steady long enough to take the various samples had added a certain zing to the chore.

  Any werewolf was more than strong enough to take out a single zombie.

  As alpha, Seth wasn’t just any werewolf.

  “What we need to figure out is how this all started in the first place. There must be people conducting research, even if they aren’t with the wolves. If you let me take in an infected human, maybe a study would—”

  “Danny.” Seth snapped off the end of his friend’s name, more than a bit of power behind it.

  The scientist lifted his hands, palms turned up to the sky. “Sorry. Can’t help but think about all the possibilities. Zombies are another part of legend, aren’t they? They’d have been around before now, like we’ve been all along. But none of us knew about them, saw or smelled any sign of them before a little over a year ago. And for them to pop up all over London, right in the heart of the city? And stay here? It’s unnatural.”

  Humans would say the same about werewolves. “We wait too long for your precious research and they’ll have multiplied too fast to keep under control. It’ll become the bleeding apocalypse the mad ones go on about.”

  “At
least they had proper guns stashed.” Danny’s lips twisted in a grim smile.

  “You want to know how all this started. I care about when all this broke out of control and how to prevent it happening over again.” Seth kicked at a stray bit of rubbish. Too much frustration in a day to be rid of by a simple patrol. He needed more action. “Some daft woman wandered into a clinic at the other end of town and infected half a dozen normals before anyone knew what happened. At least now we’ve got them all keen to look out for signs of the infected before they have a chance to go home and turn all their loved ones too.”

  “There has to be a trigger that started it all.” Beginning to pace, Danny took himself on a diagonal line across the street and back again. “Something we’ve missed so far... Maybe magic.”

  Seth snarled, the sound echoing off the buildings lining the small city street.

  Danny hunched his shoulders and kept his eyes to the ground. “You’ve got a serious chip on your shoulder regarding anything besides killing the buggers. But we’ve got to find a solution to give those infected a chance. If this is magic induced, magic is going to be part of the answer.”

  Rage burned through Seth again and the world blurred for a moment, then crystallized to a sharp clarity, an indication his eyes had shifted to wolf without his conscious action. Danny fell quiet.

  “Head back to the pack house. I’ll finish the patrol route.” The words came out so guttural and rough, they were barely understandable.

  “Seth...”

  “You’ve got your samples. Best get them preserved or stowed away however you need them. I’m going to work off some of this piss and wind I’m feeling.” Seth rolled one shoulder and studied the almost empty city streets. “You’re not wrong, but I’m not ready to talk on it.”

  He’d said the same words to Sarah...

  “It wasn’t your fault, Seth.” Danny’s voice held too much sympathy.

  “No? She’s still dead. Dead trying to take a magical shortcut to the solution for all this madness.” Seth brought himself up short. It’d do no good to go through it all again, rage at what couldn’t be changed. No. He’d go out on patrol and make a tangible difference. “Go on, then. Off with you. And, Danny, check in with a text to my mobile when you get back to the house.”