by Dannika Dark
It didn’t look like she was getting the scoop on Prince’s prowess in bed tonight. Kat smiled wide in victory.
When Prince glanced over his right shoulder and looked right at her, she almost dropped her soda.
“Good night, Kat. It was a memorable evening.”
“Cheers,” she said, holding up her drink in the dark room.
Memorable, she pondered. Not enchanting, and definitely not exciting. Well, I’ll never see him again. Which was a shame. Vlad was going to be impossible to hunt down now that she’d scared him away from his regular hangout. Prince knew Vlad and could probably help, but guys like him didn’t like to get mixed up in dangerous drama like this. Especially with a girl like Kat. The worst part? She actually liked his company.
Maybe too much.
Nadia locked the door and joined Kat in the living room, kicking off her heels and running her hands through her silky blond hair. “Should I be concerned you weren’t wearing pants with my date?”
“Why do you hate me?”
Nadia sat down to Kat’s left, her voice weary. “I don’t hate you, Katarina. I just don’t understand you.”
Kat could sense the hurt in her voice, and it had to do with why they were so different. “Papa spent more time with me, but not because he loved me more. He just didn’t know what to do with a little girl who loved tea parties and dresses. He liked to hunt, fish, and shoot guns.”
“And you did those things to please him?” She twisted her hair back and clasped her hands behind her head.
“No. I wouldn’t do something I don’t enjoy. This is just who I am. Plus, I never really liked tea. Only your invisible friends were allowed to sit at the table.”
“My friends aren’t invisible anymore, and I have a life. One you seem to disrupt every chance you get. I don’t mind the visits, darling, but you have too much chaos in your suitcase. There are other jobs. I could find you something here if you want to live close to me.”
“I like what I do,” Kat said, hiding her annoyance. “Someone has to put away the bad guys so you don’t have to look over your shoulder as often.”
“How long will you be staying this time?”
“Until I find Papa.”
Nadia sighed and lowered her arms. “That again. He’s gone, Katarina. Like our mother.”
“She left us. Someone took Papa. And… well, Prince wants to help me.” Kat innocently sipped her soda.
“Oh, no he isn’t!” Nadia burst out, quickly turning to face Kat. “You’re very clever at talking people into things, but Prince is a high-ranking Packmaster in this territory, if not the highest. You could jeopardize his standing with the Council if he gets into trouble.”
Kat set her can of soda on the floor and sat up. “Don’t you see? He’s the only one who can help. He knew our father, and he knows this guy. Papa didn’t have many close friends that I know about, and I get the feeling these two were tight.”
“I won’t have it,” Nadia continued, standing up and pacing the floor. “This is where I draw the line.”
Kat swung her legs onto the sofa and crossed them at the ankle. “No need to get your panties in a bunch. After tonight, he probably won’t come within a five-mile radius of me. I pulled a knife, shifted in a bar, ruined his suit… the usual.”
“Charming.”
That roused a subtle smile on Kat’s face when she thought of how the word “charming” held a different meaning now. It was her pet name for Prince, and Kat was fond of nicknames.
“So, how long have you two been seeing each other?”
Nadia reached behind her curio and switched on the light so she could admire the figurines. Each one had its place, and Kat knew this because she’d once rearranged them to see if Nadia would notice.
“This was our first date.”
Kat grimaced. “Oops. I’m sorry. Hopefully I didn’t scare him off. I thought you two were a thing.”
“We’ll see,” she replied with an air of confidence. “He has all the right qualifications, but I’m not sure if I’m ready to join a pack for any man, even a Packmaster.”
Kat snorted. “You’d have to keep a whole lot of packmates in line.”
Nadia ran her finger along the glass cabinet and checked it for dust. “His mansion seems quiet enough. I didn’t get the impression he leads a rambunctious pack.”
“Mansion? Wow. He really is loaded. Sounds like a match made in heaven.”
“Do you think I require a man’s money? I have my own.”
Kat curled up on her right side, having heard this song and dance before. “You’re a hoarder, Nads. You make more money than most people I know, and all you do is buy pretty dresses and pricey cheese. And those figurines.”
“Money is security.”
Kat yawned, feeling the pull of sleep. “The only security in this world is family. Money comes and goes. You make such a big deal about it, but what’s it really done for you? I’m just as happy as you are.”
Nadia crossed the room and lingered by the entrance to the hall that led to her bedroom. “Don’t pretend money holds no value when you earn a sizable income. Perhaps you should learn to hold on to it.”
“Of course it’s important, but why not use it to help others? Anyhow, I’m saving up for a big house in the woods someday with a lot of land. Someplace private where I can hunt, fish, and let my wolf run all she wants without having to wake up naked in the parking lot of a Burger King. I haven’t figured out where I want to live yet, but if you want to know the truth, I don’t work for money. It comes with the job, but I love what I do. I sleep at night knowing that each asshole I lock up means one less person in the world will be hurt by them. Even if the higher authority quit offering rewards, I don’t know if I could stop.”
Nadia drifted into the hall near the edge of the wall. “Would you like to borrow some panties?”
“Negative. And I shouldn’t have to explain why,” Kat murmured against the couch pillow. God, how she hated this predicament of not having clothes or money. She preferred cash so no one could lift her wallet and discover her identity, and that wallet was sitting next to a bag of chocolate-covered almonds on her coffee table.
Nadia switched off the hall light. “Well, good night. I’d bring you a blanket to cover up with, but you’ll just kick it onto the floor.”
“Sis?”
“Yes?”
“Can you put the pizza in the fridge for tomorrow?”
Her voice grew distant. “It’s too old to enjoy.”
Kat’s eyes closed and she mumbled, “It’s perfect.”
***
As soon as Prince arrived at his mansion, he ascended the curved staircase to his study and closed the door. It was a quaint room with a mahogany desk to the right—a green banker’s lamp casting a warm glow. The entire wall in front of the door was a bookshelf filled with ancient books in six different languages. The two green chairs to the left were rarely used; Prince never invited anyone to join him in this room, and he preferred sitting at his desk where he could work on his laptop.
He took a seat in his leather chair and switched on the computer. He had direct access to a secure database only a select few Packmasters were privy to. It stored information the Council had collected on troublesome Shifters as well as criminal records.
Prince hadn’t thought of Vlad Romanov in decades. The problem with living an extended lifespan was that it was inevitable you’d run into familiar faces from the past. Humans like to use the expression that it’s a small world, but for Breed, it was infinitely smaller.
He replayed the scene in his mind several times of the Mage thrusting his energy-soaked hands at Kat. Prince should have moved faster; he should have known Vlad would create a diversion and flee the scene. Had Prince reacted a fraction of a second sooner, Kat wouldn’t have been hurt at all. A man putting his hands on a woman incited a wave of rage that rippled through him like a tide.
And for that, Vlad would pay.
Then his mind dri
fted back to Kat. She was so different from Nadia, whose blond locks had first captured his attention. Yet the dark and deliberate nature of Kat’s hair made his heart quicken. Whenever she took a deep breath, he noticed her collarbone. It seemed like such an odd thing to focus on, but finding traits that made her different from her twin had become a silent game. The commanding way she threw her shoulders back and cocked her hips to the side when speaking. The confident tone in her voice, her assertive gaze, the level of control. Those qualities beguiled his wolf, making him pace restlessly in her presence—something his wolf had never done for another female. Even her own wolf possessed that same inherent strength by dominating that Mage and making him submit.
Kat’s insults were thinly veiled. She judged him because of his wealth and tidy appearance. Yet she had also made references to his long hair on two occasions, once using the word “sexy” to describe it. Prince reached back and pulled the band from his hair, shaking it loose around his shoulders, wondering what Kat would think of it unbound. His long hair connected him to his past and allowed him to see his former self reflecting back at him in the mirror. In that reflection, he also caught glimpses of his father.
Prince became drunk with thoughts of Kat, and for the first time in centuries, he coveted. Wanted to taste her lips, feel her body beneath his, and run with her wolf. Prince shifted in his chair, realizing he’d become thick with arousal. These ungovernable thoughts would consume him if he didn’t get control of them. Despite Kat possessing the purity he’d long sought for in a mate, he couldn’t afford to have tender feelings for such a woman. A bounty hunter who carried a knife and lived like a nomad—she was completely wrong for him, so he steered his thoughts away.
“Vlad Romanov,” he said quietly, staring at the computer screen. “Born in 1721, emigrated from Russia, wanted for slave trafficking.”
Sadly, that sort of depravity still went on in the underworld—outside the city limits of most major cities and beyond the reach of the Councils. A sparse few ancient immortals held fast to the old world when they had once lived like kings, using Shifters to do their bidding. Vlad had made a career kidnapping and selling men, women, and children for profit. The file included his last known location and listed Kat as the assigned bounty hunter. Twenty years had passed, but it was still common knowledge that the higher authority never closed a case on an outlaw until they were captured or killed. That’s why most criminals kept a low profile and avoided reaching outlaw status.
“Where does a man like you hide?” he asked himself, leaning back in his chair, the leather creaking. “And what brings you to Austin?”
Southern states had more land, but they were regulated by the Councils, and an outlaw wouldn’t be able to claim territory unless he did so illegally. It would be easier for his crimes to go unnoticed in a populous city. If Vlad was still selling on the black market, then he might be in town for business. There wasn’t a main site like eBay to do this kind of trading, but men who purchased Shifters went through a seller or middleman who would give them private access to his site. After providing their criteria, they sat back and waited for a match.
Prince sent a quick message to an associate who worked undercover with a list of local names to research. Maybe Vlad was in town hunting his next victim.
He closed the laptop and stood up, stretching out the stiff muscles in his back before loosening his slim tie and tossing it onto his desk. As tired as he was, he still felt charged from the events of the evening. He strolled across the hallway to his bedroom while unbuttoning his shirt.
Once inside, he draped the shirt over a chair and removed his leather shoes and black socks. Prince stood before a cheval mirror, his reflection encased in an espresso frame. With his hair loose, he remembered himself as a great leader from centuries ago. Frock coat, gloves, and suspenders to hold up his trousers. Fashion divided the rich and poor in earlier times, and Shifters lived somewhere in the middle. He had always appreciated a good suit; it made him feel elevated amongst others.
Prince was born in Imereti in the thirteen hundreds, firstborn to nomadic parents who had claimed land to establish a pack. They were of the purest blood, and Shifters gravitated toward them. His father had dreams of living a peaceful existence in a farming community, so he started a family in hopes of settling down. But in those times no one could escape war. Immortals were fighting for power, and Shifters were fighting for survival.
Prince unlatched his black belt, pulled it away from his pants, and tossed it to the floor. When he grasped the tab of his zipper, he thought of Kat and a smile touched his lips. Whether it was Prince’s open zipper or stumbling over her laces, she didn’t dwell on other people’s opinions. He usually preferred sophisticated women, ones who trembled with anticipation when he unfastened their corsets, but these women were rarities in the modern world. And here he was, faced with two identical women on the opposite ends of the spectrum. One who represented the ideal woman he revered and who matched his personality, and the other who ensnared his thoughts and heated his blood in a way no woman ever had.
Prince was a man of restraint, one who only indulged in pleasures of the flesh when he needed to settle his nerves. He never chose women from his pack, but instead would couple with unmated women in the territory. It wasn’t often, but he had no other options since he didn’t believe in self-gratification. It showed a lack of control, so it was a habit he’d given up over four hundred years ago.
Yet as his pants slipped to the floor and he looked at his erection in the mirror, carnal images of Kat tangled in his thoughts. He switched off the light and stripped down the covers, lying on silken sheets. At first it began with a touch, just a simple stroke to the head when he remembered the way Kat had pressed up against him earlier that evening. He’d known she wasn’t wearing a bra beneath her shirt when her nipples hardened against his chest.
His promise to help her find Alex had filled him with a sense of purpose. A Packmaster’s life was demanding, but he often missed the days when decisions were made by actions and not words. This beguiling woman had managed to make him feel more alive in one night than he had in centuries.
An image flashed in his mind of Kat’s nude body straddling the back of the Mage and the way she swung her eyes up to Prince’s with willful determination. He arched his back as he imagined what it would feel like to be the man beneath her—to have a Shifter as dominant as she astride him, her hips rocking, her sable eyes latched on his. An insatiable craving began.
One that made him relinquish a vow he’d made four hundred years ago.
Chapter 6
“Hey, honeypie.”
“Denver, what are you doing here?” Nadia said from a short distance away.
Kat groaned into her pillow and rubbed her face against it, squinting as she peered toward the front hallway to see what was going on.
“Look, I just wanted to stop by because I feel kind of shitty about how things went. It wasn’t your fault; you were great. I’ve just found the girl I want and—”
Nadia’s voice was smooth like honey. “No need to explain. If you want the truth, I think you can do better, but I don’t believe in competing for any man’s attention. My love life is not a game show.”
The man named Denver chuckled and leaned against the doorjamb. “Did you ever watch The Love Connection?”
Kat smiled, since she loved game shows.
Denver was easy on the eyes, with blond hair and a cartoon character on his T-shirt. Although Kat was too far away to see what it said, she could have sworn it was Fraggle Rock. He seemed like the kind of guy Kat would normally hang out with, so naturally it came as a surprise that he and Nadia had been dating.
“Is that all you wanted to say?” Nadia asked, folding her arms.
“I’ve been thinking about what happened all week and… I don’t want you to think I’m a dick. We just weren’t peanut butter and jelly together. Anyhow, Naya respects you, and uh… I hope you don’t hold this against her.”
Denver hiked up his baggy jeans—shredded at the knees—and plucked a piece of candy from his pocket. It looked like a gumball or jawbreaker and caused his left cheek to puff out when he attempted to smile. “That’s one thing I’m sure of. This is a permanent deal and, no offense, but there’s no way in Hades I could do any better. Anyhow, just wanted to smooth things over and make sure I didn’t mess up your business relationship with Naya. I’ll keep my eyes open, but I don’t know what kind of men you go for.”
“That won’t be necessary. I’m not looking for a mate. Give your woman my best.”
The blond-haired man inched into the hallway and waved before turning away.
Nadia slammed the door and Kat sat up, eyes alert.
Habit.
“I wasn’t sure if you were going to sleep until noon or get up with the civilized world. Am I okay to leave you here alone today?” Nadia glanced at her slim gold watch, which complemented her olive-green pencil skirt and white blouse. Her hair was beautifully combed and parted down the middle.
Kat rubbed her eyes and blew her hair out of her face. Mornings were her least favorite time of day. “Given I don’t have any pants, that kind of limits my daily agenda. I promise I won’t paint anything, if that’s what you’re concerned about.” She briefly looked at the floor and made sure her dagger was where she’d left it.
“I’m asking nicely for you to keep Prince out of our affairs. Promise me.”
“I doubt I’ll ever see him again after last night, but I’m not about to turn down help if he offers it. I have a strong lead on finding our father, and don’t roll your eyes.”