by Bryce Evans
His eyes were a bright green color as they focused on her. His body had grown bigger as the vampire venom raced through his body. Even his hair was growing longer as they both stared at each other. He wasn’t just a shifter, but a vampire as well—a hybrid.
Maggie glanced over at Brody, who had shifted back into his human form, shaking his head. She knew not to move while Judd watched her every action. “Judd, are you okay?”
“Maggie, maybe you should—” Judd growled when Ryder said her name.
“Just back out of the room, Ryder. He’s a bit territorial right now,” Maggie muttered softly.
“And Brody?”
“Judd.” Maggie started to move backwards toward the bed so Brody could get out of the room. Judd watched; his eyes followed her movement as he moved closer to her. “Leave, Brody, and close the door.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t… ”
“Just leave, Brody.” She watched as Brody slowly got up from the ground and moved to the door. Judd’s head was tilted sideways as he watched Brody walk to the door. Once the door was closed, Judd’s attention was back on her. She could feel her body getting sluggish. She had given Judd a lot of her blood in her efforts to heal him, and now she was paying for it. Her hand felt for the mattress as her legs gave out, slipping down the side of the bed. She needed more blood.
Judd rushed to her side and picked her up off the ground, gently laying her down. “I’m sorry,” Maggie whispered.
“For what?” Judd’s voice was raspy as he sat down beside her.
“For not doing it sooner. I never wanted you to hurt your friend. I thought you were dead and I had killed you.” Tears fell from her eyes as she reached up and touched his face.
“What’s wrong?” Judd leaned over and wiped the tears off her face.
“I need blood.”
“Bite me.” Judd turned his neck sideways.
“No, I can’t. Your body needs to heal, and you need more blood.” Maggie put her hands on his face. “Are you really okay with this?” Tears continued to fall. “I didn’t want to do it, but I thought you were going to die if I didn’t.”
“Bite me. This is my choice, Maggie. My choice,” Judd demanded.
Turning her head to the side, he scraped his teeth against her neck. Damn that felt good. She could hardly breath she wanted him so bad. Her body pushed against his. She could feel his desperation and did what he asked, biting into his neck.
The first taste of his blood was magical as it flowed down her throat. She wanted more, but she didn’t want to take too much. He needed to refuel. She pulled away, turning her head so she couldn’t see his neck. Everything about him drew her closer. She wanted him to touch her and never stop. They had waited long enough. It was there time now. There magical time together.
He pulled away and started taking her clothes off. Kissing her as he uncovered each part of her.
“You are beautiful Maggie. I can’t believe this is real. I’ve dreamed about this.” She couldn’t take it. After he uncovered her, he kissed then licked each part of her body. His long fingers were gentle as he caressed her skin. Her body responded in goose bumps as he blew across her nipple.
His body had changed dramatically as he laid down on top of her. She rubbed her hands up and down his forearms. She could feel his muscles moving as they continued to grow. His body was still changing. “Look at me, Maggie.”
She opened her eyes and looked into the brightest green eyes she had ever seen.
“Are you ready, baby?” Judd asked.
She smiled. “Yes.”
Maggie would have given him up if she truly believed he didn’t want this, but she could actually feel it inside of him. He wanted her, wanted this. She opened her legs as his lips touched hers. His tongue darted out and licked until she smiled and opened for him. She couldn’t get enough of his taste. Pulling away, he grabbed her by the hair as his fingers massaged her scalp. Turning her neck, licking along the side for when she became his. She writhed underneath him as he continued to nibble and suck that little spot, driving her crazy.
“Judd, I need you.” That was all he wanted to hear as he eased inside of her. Her gasps and moans urged him to continue. He never wanted a woman as bad as Maggie. He pushed inside of her again and again, thrusting harder as she pushed back against him. He watched as her fangs peeked down over her bottom lip, and for the first time, he thought how sexy she was. It didn’t bother him one little bit. In fact, all he wanted her to do was bite him again and again.
“You like to play, my little vampire?”
The only sound he got back was her moaning. Her eyes were closed as she raised her hips, pushing into him. “Open your eyes.”
As soon as her eyes opened, Judd flipped her onto her stomach, pulling her back against him, slamming into her again. Her grabbed ahold of her hair and pulled her body flush against his as he thrust inside her again. Licking the side of her neck where it met her shoulder, Judd could feel her getting closer and closer. “Now you’re mine.” His fangs dropped down, latching onto her, he could feel her soft skin as his fangs cut through. Blood flooded his mouth and he had never tasted anything sweeter than her. He kept driving into her until finally she screamed out. “Judd!”
He was hardly done with her; in fact, he was just getting started. Once her body calmed down, he pulled out then thrust back inside again. This time he wanted to see her come. He wanted to see her beautiful face as he slammed into her, making her his again and again.
Judd flipped her over onto her back, and then drove back inside of her again. “We are going to do this all night, my little vampire. We’ve waited too long, and now you belong to me. Tell me you’re mine. I want to hear you as I fuck you.”
Judd leaned over and sucked her breast inside of his mouth. “Yes.” Maggie arched off the bed, pushing more of her into his mouth. The greatest thing about being a shifter was how they could get more in their mouths than a normal human. Judd being a jaguar, he could crush a man’s head with his massive jaws. He planned to eat her up today and every day for the rest of their lives. They had wasted too much time already.
Her fingers dug into his arms as he moved again inside of her, pushing until he knew he couldn’t go any further. As if it couldn’t get any more intense, his little vampire started making these noises that tore him out of frame. “Right there. Right there!”
Now she had him about to blow, but that wasn’t going to happen, not until she came first. Using his hand, Judd reached down and swiped his thumb over her clit. Her body started shaking, and that was it. Her fingernails dug into his arms as her back bowed off the bed. He was already about to come, but the little minx reached up and bit into his neck, making him shoot off like a bullet out of a gun. Holding her head to him, he allowed her to have her fill until they both collapsed onto the bed. Pulling her over to him, Judd wrapped his arms around her as they drifted off.
All he knew was that she was finally his.
Chapter Twenty-One
Maggie and Judd walked into the meeting being held at the mines. The conversation died as soon as everyone got a good look at Judd for the first time since the mating. He had grown in size. It was a shock to both Maggie and him once they got out of bed.
“Holy shit, Judd. You’re huge,” Nolan said, astonished.
Judd had to smile. He was bigger by two inches, and stronger than he had ever imagined.
“Are you okay?” Ryder asked.
“I feel great, and I’m happy for the first time in a very long time,” Judd answered. He watched as Brody lowered his head. Maggie understood why he was reacting this way. Brody has always been the one who looked after all of them. But she could see the shame on his face. He needed to apologize to Maggie, so he waited.
“Maggie.” Brody stood up and walked towards her.
“It’s okay, Brody. I understand. You thought I killed him. I thought I had too, to be honest.”
“Please forgive me.”
“There’s nothing
to forgive you for. I’m proud for Judd and the rest of you that you all care enough for each other that you would lay down your life for each other. The vampires could learn a few things from you guys. But…” Maggie put her hand on Brody’s face. “There is nothing to forgive. So are we good?”
“Of course. I just lost control, but I should have known better,” Brody added.
“Let’s all hug it out then.” Nolan stood up and walked over to them with a smile on his face.
“I agree,” London said, getting up from her chair.
Maggie wanted to laugh when they all came over and had a group hug with Judd and her in the middle. “I feel so much better now,” Nolan commented. “I’m happy for you, brother, but you know I have a lot of questions to ask you about your transformation.”
The group groaned, knowing that Nolan was going to ask something inappropriate. He always did. “I’m afraid to say okay,” Judd answered as they sat down.
“Well it looks to me you grew about two or three inches taller, and your muscle mass is much greater, but… ” Nolan leaned in and whispered, “Did something else grow bigger?” Before Judd could answer, Me-Len hit him over the head with her notebook.
“What? It’s a legitimate question! You know you all want to know, too.”
Maggie snorted, then started giggling. The entire room busted out laughing as Nolan looked back at Ryder and the others. “Nolan,” Maggie leaned across her mate and whispered, “Everything grew bigger, and he sure knows how to make use of it, too.”
“I told you.” Nolan jumped up and held his hand out to Kayden and the other Alphas to pay up.
Maggie nudged her mate and winked at him. “I love you.”
“I love you back.”
“Judd, we didn’t get to speak to Bo and Catt for long, but they seem to be good people. Do you know how many are in their clan?” Me-Len asked.
“He said around two hundred members, including the children. They told us about what the vampires do to those of their kind who mate with shifters. If it hadn’t been for Mick, they would be dead too. He wouldn’t go into a lot of detail, but he said that there are other clans like his. They stay out of the areas that the vampire covens occupy, and pretty much keep to themselves. Every time Mick finds a couple, he gets them to safety. That’s how Bo and Catt’s clan has grown so big.”
“Do you think they would help us?” Kayden asked.
“To be honest, I think now that we have mated they are ready to come out. I didn’t know this, but Bo and Cat own two hundred acres next to Alpha City, in Deaton County. They want to move the clan there in order to be near Alpha City. It’s still in the county and close enough to the city to enjoy what we have here. So to answer your question, I think they’re ready to come out and help us, especially if we stand up for them in return. The question I need to ask you guys is do you have a problem with standing up for a vampire-shifter hybrid population?”
“You already know the answer to that, brother,” Brody answered for all of them.
“I told Bo and Cat you would say that, but I needed to ask you all,” Judd said, kissing the side of his mate’s head.
“Maggie, do you feel the jaguar inside of you?” Zoey asked with a smile.
Maggie closed her eyes, then opened them again. This time instead of her normal green eyes, her eyes were emerald green with the slitted pupils of her jaguar staring back at them.
“I’ve seen a lot of things in my time, but that is so cool,” Me-Len answered.
“I was wondering what kind of abilities you have now?” Ryder asked. “Because you sure knocked Brody on his ass.” Everyone laughed except Brody.
“Hey.” Brody glanced back at Maggie. “I deserved it.”
“Well you see the difference in my size, but Bo said that we would be stronger than vampires and shifters. We still eat real food, but we would need some blood as well. However, now that we’re mated, we feed off each other, and it satisfies the thirst and the fuel we need. Being a shifter, I could always see great, but now I can see farther, and my senses are much better than before. I still have all of my shifter traits but now I have a vampire’s, too. That means I can use the mind control trick on you. But to be honest I really don’t know how yet; I want to talk to Bo and Cat about it. It’s only been one day. We’re just trying to take it minute by minute.”
“I see now why they want all vampire-shifter hybrids dead. You’re by far more superior, and that scares them,” Ryder commented.
“We may have a backlash from this. I don’t know how bad it will be, but they will find out about us, and when they do we need to figure out what they plan to do about it,” Judd commented. “I want you all to understand what you’re going to be faced with once they find out that we have truly been mated.”
“I think we need to meet with Bo and Cat to see where they stand on helping us, especially if the vampires decide to call on Judd and Maggie. Me-Len, do you think you can put some spells on their house just in case the vampires send anyone?” Ryder asked.
“They will send in assassins and never take responsibility for it. That’s how they do it, and have for years. Nobody ever knows what happened to the couple and nobody cares enough to ask. That’s how they’ve been getting away with it, with nobody the wiser,” Maggie explained.
“Man, that’s cruel,” Zoey said.
“Not all vampires believe that—like Mick, but he has to be careful or he’ll wake up one day and find that he’s been taken out by the majority. There are others who are like Mick, but until we put it out there in their face where they have to acknowledge us, nothing will change. Like most people who are bigots, sometimes it has to be shoved down their throats.”
“I like the way you think, Maggie,” London said, approving.
“Thanks, London. But like I said it will be a battle for all of us and I don’t want any of you to get hurt because of me.”
“Maggie, that’s what living in Alpha City is all about. You’re part of our family. When they screw with you, they fuck with us. So get that out of your head. If they come, they better come with a lot, because they don’t want me putting any spells on their sorry, bigoted asses.” London pounded her hand on the table. Maggie could feel the magic as London expressed her outrage for the vampires. She watched as the necklace around London’s neck sparked. The Tree of Life was part of the Stone, and from everything she’d read and heard, it was the most powerful piece of magic in supernatural history.
Ryder put his hand around his mate. “As always, so elegantly put. But my mate is correct. We protect our own.”
“So now what?”
Ryder stood up. “Well now we follow through with the plan. We put you in places to monitor our members. We take out the ones that are bad and find out where Claudia is hiding. Then we take her and the dragon out. We’ll also meet with Bo and Cat and get them close by, in case we need to call on them. This needs to be subtle so nobody catches on. When it’s time, we’ll bring Bo’s clan out and make a show of force.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Tell me what you have found, Sage,” Claudia Blackwood demanded. They could tell that she was unhappy about something, and if she didn’t like what they had to say, she’d try to kill them.
“Without knowing what you’re trying to open, it was difficult to find the right spell. We made a list of all the possible spells we could find,” Sage answered, watching Claudia.
“I’ve looked at the list, and none of them will work. I gave you enough time to find me the one I need.” They could feel her anger as she paced in front of her desk. “You didn’t find me anything that I could use. Nothing.”
“We looked in every book, and didn’t find anything except the spells that we gave you, Claudia. That’s it,” Sage said.
“Hmm.”
“That was it, Claudia. We even checked the books that we knew had been destroyed, even the Book of Thoth. So there are no other spells,” Jessica Wingate answered.
“What did it say abou
t the Book of Thoth?” Claudia asked.
Sage watched Claudia very carefully and saw that spark in her eyes at the mention of the Book of Thoth. She tried to hide it, but Sage had spotted it. Why was she interested in a book that had been destroyed by the Vampire Council?
“Why would you want to know about a book that has been destroyed?” Sage asked.
“Answer me!” Claudia yelled. Her magic was so dark that it was hard to breathe in the room when she got angry. However, there wasn’t many times that Claudia wasn’t angry.
“Only an innocent could open the book. Someone who has a pure heart,” Jessica quoted. She loved the history about the legendary Book of Thoth. If that was what would appease this crazy bitch, they would tell her. She couldn’t use it anyway, because the book didn’t exist.
“You are dismissed.” Claudia got up, walked over to her desk, and sat down. When Jessica and Sage didn’t move, she peered up at them. “I said leave.”
Jessica glanced over at Sage and got up. They didn’t understand why she was dismissing them. Something was up. They needed information, but right now they couldn’t go to get it or she’d be onto them. The next supply run wasn’t for another week. They would need to lay low and stay out of Claudia’s way, or she’d take her anger out on them.
Once Sage and her mother got back to their room, they went into the bathroom and turned on the shower and sink faucet.
Sage whispered, “Something is up, Mother. When we told her about the Book of Thoth, she dismissed us. The Vampire Council burned that book. What is she up to?”
“I don’t know, but as soon as we can we need to talk to Me-Len. Let them know she’s asking questions about opening spells and the Book of Thoth.” Jessica stopped talking and walked out of the bathroom.
Sage saw the look in her eyes. It would take an innocent to open the book, someone who was pure of heart. As far as she knew, there wasn’t anyone like that. And if there was, she wouldn’t be able to find them.