Kele’s eyebrows shot up and she nodded. “I wondered if you’d be able to resist your insatiable curiosity.”
“Three days of hard work for the carpenters to assemble the frame and three seconds for your mother to destroy it.” He traced the sharp break with his finger. The end punctured his skin, and he hissed with pleasure. A precious ruby drop formed on his fingertip and he licked it clean.
“My female parent doesn’t comprehend the work it takes to build things.” An adorable crease formed on her forehead as she frowned at the damage.
Their dislike for her mother was a commonality they’d bonded over ever since she’d been a child. From there a friendship had developed. It wasn’t something he often allowed himself outside his species, but Kele’s sharp wit and intelligence acted as a natural magnet. Now that she’d developed into a stunning adult female, he hoped to convince Kele a more intimate relationship could be possible between them.
“May I come in?” Benic asked.
She gestured for him to enter her modest living space. As the only offspring of the pack’s alphas, Kele should have had more. In any other culture, she would have been a princess. Instead, she still occupied a room meant for a child. Who could understand shifters? He remained by the doorway and nodded to Susan. “Good evening, Dr. Susan Barlow.”
The human female sat on a pallet across the room. Her knees were bent up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. “I thought your kind could only travel at night.” She skipped any kind of social pleasantry. He enjoyed women who could converse with skill, not those who used words bluntly.
He raised an eyebrow and leaned toward her. “Why would we only travel at night?” He approached her and stopped as her eyes went wide. “I never heard that rumor before. Kele?”
The pretty shifter shook her head and joined Susan on the wide pallet.
“The sunlight doesn’t harm you?” The human scooted closer to Kele. Her reaction and questions set his already growing curiosity on fire. The drive for knowledge, to explore new places and discover fantastic things, would always rule him.
“What an odd thing to believe. Does it hurt you?” he asked the human.
She gave him a watery smile. “No.”
Benic could hear the pace of her pulse quicken as he inched toward her. His mouth watered. He hadn’t fed in days, but taking what wasn’t freely offered left a bad aftertaste. He could wait a little longer.
Her blood rushed through her veins. As a new species, it potentially contained unknown hormones and cells with all the possibilities to save his people. He needed a blood sample to study before he allowed his imagination to go wild.
He’d spent the last century taking samples of every species of Eorthe but in the past ten years his interest had waned. His theories had all been tested and proven wrong. Nothing he’d discovered could save his race. And here arrived Susan. He’d lost hope years ago, and his studies had been neglected for far too long.
The human paled, the muscles in her legs tensed as if ready to spring. She kept her gaze focused on him yet clung to Kele.
“You shouldn’t be frightened of me. I don’t attack people. Not like some mothers in this den.” He glanced from Kele to Susan and gave a mental shrug. Susan didn’t mince words, at least not that he’d witnessed. She was a direct creature. Maybe he should just ask? “May I feed from you and get a blood sample, Susan?”
She gripped the collar of her coat closed, her eyes so wide she appeared part owl. “I don’t want to become a vampire.”
He scratched his head and watched the human almost strangle herself with her collar. “You can’t become a vampire from a bite. You’re born as one. Just like shifters or incubi or—where did you get that idea?”
She blinked and tossed Kele a glance. “Stories my people tell. If you get bitten by a vampire or a shifter, you’ll become one.” She looked from him to Kele again. “At least that’s what I’ve heard. I never really had time to indulge any thoughts about it.”
“I’ve fed from Kele, and see, she’s not become a vampire.”
“But she’s already a shifter.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Something made her believe they could change her species. He took a shaky breath and swallowed to ease the tremor in his voice. Every rumor had a root of truth. This one could save his people. He really must find more of these humans. “You came through the light like Sorin said?”
“Yes.”
“And never met a shifter or vampire?”
She shook her head. “No. You don’t exist where I come from.”
Then how did her people have stories of vampires if they’d never encountered one? Changing a person…this he’d never heard of. What a concept. His contained excitement almost had him bouncing on the bed. So many new ideas, so many experiments he’d have to run. What would happen if he bit her?
“Benic, I don’t think feeding from Susan would be wise. She’s had enough excitement. Let’s not change her species today.” Kele hid her grin behind her hand. “Maybe tomorrow?”
Dipping his chin to his chest, he acknowledged Kele’s advice. “I thought as much.” Let them think he could be easily dissuaded—before he left for his castle, he’d have his vial of human blood, with or without Susan’s consent. He offered them both his most charming smile. “Did you see the blue light, Kele?”
Kele’s easy smile faded a little. “I think everyone within the forest did. Is the light your reason for visiting?”
“I can’t come just to admire the most beautiful female in all Eorthe?” He reached past Susan and tucked a strand of Kele’s silken hair behind her ear.
A blush graced her cheeks. “Save that kind of talk for my mother. What do you really want, ferret?”
The nickname warmed his cold heart. She had always compared his personal nature to the intelligent and conniving little creatures. Kele could make an old vampire consider abandoning the comforts of his castle to live in the forest among dogs. “I want to go to the Temple and see from whence Susan came.”
“There’s nothing to see. The gateway closed and won’t open again.” Susan leaned her chin on her knees, a faraway look in her eyes.
Chapter Six
Susan didn’t know how to explain her situation to people who didn’t even know about electricity. They might think she was some sort of demon or bad luck omen or worse, their missing goddess. “This will be difficult to believe. You need to keep an open mind and not jump to conclusions.” She took a deep breath. “I’m not from this world.”
Benic raised an eyebrow, his smile growing wider. “Oh, this story is going to be good. I can tell.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
“Benic, let her talk.” Kele set a reassuring hand on Susan’s shoulder. The small shifter had been an odd comfort throughout this ordeal, and Susan found herself relying on it.
Susan took a steadying breath. “The blue light everyone saw was a doorway of sorts, and I fell through it.” If their roles were reversed and Kele was telling her this story back on Earth, she’d have called 911 to have her institutionalized.
Kele’s eyes sparkled. “So the Goddess did send you.”
“No!” Susan shook her head and waved her hands as if physically warding off the idea. The last thing she needed was to be linked to a deity. “No goddess, no magic. Science brought me here. I used pure, logical technology to create the machine that opened the portal.”
At her declaration, Benic’s amused expression transformed to awe. “A world of science? You built a machine to travel among the stars?”
“Not between stars, but dimensions.” They blinked at her like she must have done to them a dozen times in the past day. She sighed. “This won’t be easy to explain so remember, ‘open mind’. Let’s imagine we’re from the same world but different dimensions. You call your planet Eorthe and we call ours Earth.” She paused to let them absorb the idea. “I studied what is called super-string theories. Quantum physics, which is my specialty, tells us tha
t the sub atomic particles that make up our world are collapsed from waves of probability simply by the act of observation.”
Glazed stares met hers. She recognized the look. Many of her students had worn it when she taught at the university. “Let’s pretend that every time something happens, a new timeline branches off as a probability, like a new branch sprouting from a tree.” She pointed at Kele. “You decided to bring me here. Another probability is that you left me with Sorin. This other timeline branches off your decision and continues to develop in another separate reality. If we used my machine to fold the fifth dimension through the sixth like a bridge, we could arrive at this other branch, but there would be little difference in reality because it was such a recent event.”
Benic nodded, his expression grave and focused. “Fascinating.” His enthusiasm had bubbled off him and left him serious. “I admit to not understanding most of it, but you obviously do.”
Susan finally met his green-eyed stare. “You believe me?” This was a big step in getting someone to help her find a way home.
His eyes widened a little. “What I believe doesn’t really matter.”
Jerking, Susan recalled she might have proof. She searched her jacket then her pockets.
“What are you looking for?” Kele leaned to glance inside her pocket.
“I had a badge.” She sighed. “I must have lost it between the Temple and here. It’s made of a substance called plastic. I know you wouldn’t have that here. My picture is also on it.”
“A small piece of unknown material lost in the woods. We should look for it in the morning.” Benic’s speech grew quicker as if excited. “There is more to tell, yes?”
“Much more. My machine was going to fall into the hands of—of a faction I didn’t agree with. So I destroyed it. In the explosion, I got thrown through the gateway and transported here.” She surveyed Kele’s room. “A very long way from my reality line.”
Kele leaned back on her hands, her legs stretching forward as she stared off into the distance. Silence hung in the room. “How different are our worlds?”
A sob strangled Susan’s voice, and her words came out rough. “I barely recognize it as home. The plants, sky and animals appear the same.” She peered from Kele to Benic. “There are only humans in my reality. No shifters or vampires—you’re only myths. Never proven to exist.”
“Myths?” He rubbed his chin. “Your race is not even myth here. You couldn’t have mistakenly jumped more than dimensions, but worlds as well?”
“No. I considered it this evening. Except we’re all speaking the same language, breathing the same air, and your food hasn’t poisoned me. Yet. To confirm it, I checked the stars. Even the constellations are the same. This is Earth, but something happened in your past to really divert the branch from my reality.”
“The only human on Eorthe.” Kele’s voice carried a regret that broke through the unemotional barrier Susan tried to maintain.
She reached for the small female with her hands, needing something to cling to and anchor her so she wouldn’t be swept away in the tidal wave of sorrow. What she would do to have someone strong to lean on, to protect her in this crazy world.
Trapped.
She needed to figure out what to do. Her future seemed bleak at best, living among shifters in a dormant volcano. She thought of Ahote’s dark form slinking through the vegetation. Nausea rose. She didn’t want to end up some male’s plaything. Hugging herself tight, she realized she needed a moment alone and some time to come up with a plan.
Exhaustion swept her into its strong arms. Her pounding head grew heavy, and she leaned it on her knees.
“It’s getting late, Benic.” Kele spoke softly and ran her hand over Susan’s back, sending a warm, comfortable feeling over her spine. It was the closest thing to safe she’d felt since arriving on Eorthe. “We’ve had a harrowing day. I want to wash and rest. I think Susan is ready to go straight to bed, though.”
Yes. Yes, she was.
Dazed, she watched Benic make his farewells to Kele. His hands lingered on the young shifter’s arms a fraction longer than a friend’s should, and the way he gazed at Kele with a soft expression made his interest apparent. Yet Kele didn’t seem aware of his extra attention.
She pushed the broken door closed, wedging it into the doorway. “That will have to do until the crafters can fix it.” She sauntered back to the pallet. “You can stay here tonight. Then we’ll find you a place among the omegas tomorrow.”
“Omegas?”
She pursed her lips as if thinking hard. “Do you humans live in packs?”
“We live as families. I don’t know if you’d consider that a pack.”
“Vampires live in families, or clans, as well. Packs are different. There’s a lot of…” She made a twisting motion with her fists. “Struggle. We live close to nature, and our animal instincts are very strong.” She blew out a breath. “This isn’t easy to explain. It’s like describing how to breathe to a fish.”
“I don’t have the right tools to sense what you’re explaining. Yeah, I got that impression when your mother WWE’d me into the floor when I tried to shake her hand. Pack life seems violent. Start explaining with the omegas.” Especially if she was to live among them.
“There’s a hierarchy in packs. Alphas are the top. The strongest, fastest, sometimes the smartest. They lead. My parents are the alphas of this pack.”
Susan nodded. How could she forget?
“Then there are hunters, like Ahote and my other guards today. They protect and feed the pack. This makes them very valuable to us, so in return we give them deference. First choice of mates and living space, the best clothes—”
“You said I wasn’t being given to Ahote.” Dread seeped into Susan’s soul and she clenched her fists.
“Not against your will. But most females would fight to have his attention. He’s a top hunter and can provide a good life.”
“Then why doesn’t he have a mate?”
“He hasn’t chosen one yet. He’s…biding his time.”
Translation: He’s fucking his way around the pack before picking. Susan rolled her eyes. “I’m not interested in males like him. I’d have a hard time deferring to him.”
“That might make him want you more.” Kele laughed. “But in his defense, I will admit to telling him to mark you. It will keep most of the males at bay until you understand our ways.”
“Your mother didn’t give me the impression she wanted me to stay. What should I do about that?” She’d been reduced to depending on a pack of shifters who didn’t want her. Even to her human sense, that didn’t seem to bode well for her. How long could she ward off unwanted male interest before she caved in to her need for security? “What if I went with Benic? Would living with vampires be worse?”
Kele blinked. “I don’t know. I’ve never been to the castle.”
Susan eyebrow rose at the statement. Castle trumped cave in her books. “He seems to like you.”
“He’s been the lord of this forest for as long as anyone can remember. From what we’ve heard of other packs, Benic is very tolerant of our ways in comparison to other vampire lords.”
Susan remembered the familiar way Kele spoke with him. “You don’t treat him like a lord.”
The pretty shifter shook her head. “No, he always treated me special as I grew up. Most of the others wouldn’t play with me since I couldn’t shift, and they were warned from hurting me. Benic used to waste hours playing games and telling me stories when he visited. He’d make a wonderful father.”
Susan’s stomach tightened into a smaller ball, and she was happy they’d missed dinner. From what she’d witnessed, Benic wasn’t looking at Kele with a father’s gaze. Not anymore. “Anyway, you were telling me about omegas?”
“Yes, under the hunters are crafters, builders and traders. They make our lives comfortable. These shifters are less dominant. Their interests lay outside the desire for power and more for quality of life. Then there
are the omegas, the most submissive of the pack. They rank low and some, like my mother, consider them useless. But these are our artists, our caretakers, teachers and easy lovers. They’re very essential to pack life. Nothing is more soothing than to be taken care of by an omega.”
Heartburn crept up Susan’s chest. “So they’re the lowest position of the pack?” She so wouldn’t fit there.
“No, the strays are.” Kele wouldn’t meet her gaze. Her mother had called Susan a stray when they’d been in the pack gathering room.
“Shit.” Susan plopped back on the pallet and stared at the dark ceiling. Light from the candles flickered, trying to keep the night from swallowing her whole. Maybe it would be best if she blew the flames out and let the darkness consume her.
“This is why I ask you to keep Ahote’s mark for as long as you can. Maybe you can convince him to mark you again?”
Shifting her position, Susan tried to relieve the tension growing in her neck. “How do I climb your society’s ladder?”
“Dominance, skill and strength. If you want something you have to be willing to fight for it. The more you lose, the less respect you will receive from others, and the worse you will be treated.”
“Where do you fit in all this?”
Susan saw her spine stiffen.
“I’m not sure.” Kele remained quiet for a few moments as if trying to decide how to explain. “I can’t shift. That’s not something anyone would respect or fear, but my parents are the alphas. Only their presence and love defend me. If they were to withdraw it or pass away, I’d be in a dire situation.”
“Like me.” Susan rolled on her side and faced the wall, turning her back to Kele, unable to bear the pity in the shifter’s gaze anymore. This sucked monkey balls with extra tartar sauce.
“Your situation is unique, Susan.” She sighed. “We’ll speak with Benic in the morning and see if he can offer you something better.” Susan sensed Kele rise off the pallet. “I’m going to wash. Will you come?”
The caked-on layer of dust and dirt clung to Susan’s skin. She really ought to wash. “Can I in the morning? I’m exhausted and want to sleep. Hopefully things will seem better after some rest.”
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