by Katie Reus
Gabriel sighed, a familiar sound. “You recruited me for a reason. To watch your back. What’s the point of being Guardian if I have no one to guard?”
Finn snorted in response, but the truth was, he had recruited Gabriel for a very good reason. Years ago when Finn had killed his own hateful uncle and taken over the Stavros pack, there had been a few who would have seen him overthrown. For the most part he’d weeded out his enemies, but his uncle had been Alpha for over a thousand years and his archaic ideals were still strong with some.
Gabriel had been a loner until Finn found him. The other wolf had been passing through Biloxi and had jumped into the middle of a squabble between Finn and a few vampires who’d wanted to move in on his territory. Finn hadn’t needed the help but ever since then they’d forged an unbreakable friendship.
Even if he technically didn’t owe his friend an explanation, he gave one. “I didn’t have time to call. I saw one of those things tailing a human female as she left the casino and tracked it. It left the female alone when it realized I was hunting it. Think it wanted to lure me into a trap.”
When his friend didn’t respond he grabbed the towel Gabriel extended and started wiping blood from his arms and sides. As Alpha, his healing speed was one of his gifts. His back and sides were sore but as he drew the towel away he could see the long slashes along his skin already mending. His medical kit was in his SUV but he decided not to bother patching himself up since the blood wasn’t flowing anymore. After he finished, he took an extra set of clothes from Gabriel and quickly pulled on the dark sweater and jeans. They all carried extra clothes in their vehicles and Gabriel’s assumption that he’d need them tonight was from previous experience. “How’d you know I’d be here anyway?”
“One of the girls at the front desk told me you’d left in a rush so I followed your scent. And you did have time to call. Or text.” Gabriel shook his head as he picked up what was left of Finn’s shredded shoes and fallen cell phone and keys. He tossed the ruined shoes into the fire.
Finn ignored Gabriel’s last comment. “How’d you get here?” he asked as they exited the warehouse.
A bright three-quarter moon hung high in the sky, illuminating the dingy alley. There were a few empty cardboard boxes propped up against a rusted old Dumpster, but no signs of anyone, not even the homeless. There was another warehouse directly next to this one and it was also currently unused. Made sense for the demons to be hanging out here, but his pack would have to pay more attention to the area now. His SUV was still parked in the dark alley but he didn’t see Gabriel’s motorcycle anywhere.
“My bike’s a block over. Wasn’t sure if you were fighting anyone and didn’t want to announce my presence if you needed backup. Besides, there’s no way in hell I was parking my baby down here.” He mock shuddered as he tossed the SUV keys to him.
Finn bit back a smile as he palmed the key fob. He briefly contemplated going back to the casino. But he had too much paperwork to catch up on and would be distracted there. “See ya back at the compound?”
Gabriel shook his head and grinned. “I’m going to head up to Howler’s for a while.”
Howler’s was the club on the bottom floor of Finn’s casino and since it was almost ten the place would just be getting busy. Even though he wasn’t required to, Gabriel liked to help out security on the weekends. He’d never said it, but Finn knew he liked to let out his aggression on drunk shifters looking for a fight. “See ya tomorrow, then.”
As Finn steered out of the alley, he glanced at his phone. Three missed calls from Spiro, one of the wolves he had running patrol at the compound tonight. Definitely not a good sign. He put in his hands-free earpiece and called him back.
Spiro picked up on the first ring. “Boss, we have a problem. There’s a vampire here who says she knows you and needs to speak to you. She’s injured two of our warriors and we’ve got her cornered by the edge of the house but…I get the feeling she’s letting us corral her. I’ve never seen a vampire move so fast. She said you two have a history together.”
Something tightened in his chest. Once he’d killed his uncle, Finn had searched for her for years; was still covertly searching for her. It seemed impossible, but… “What does she look like?”
“Long blonde hair, not very tall, great curves, grayish-purple vampire eyes—”
It hurt to breathe for a moment, but he made his throat work. “I’m on my way. Do not let her leave, but no one better injure her. They do, they die.” He ended the call and gunned the engine. He was only minutes away but suddenly it seemed like an eternity stretched before him.
Finn knew only one vampire that fit that description and he hadn’t seen the alluring woman in seventeen long years.
Lyra Marius.
The blonde-haired vampire with the unique grayish-violet eyes, sharp cheekbones and an adorable smattering of freckles over her nose had haunted his dreams for too long. She had an innocent quality about her that was refreshing. Having been raised to believe that all vampires were evil creatures it had surprised him when he’d first met her. Not a night went by that he didn’t think—fantasize—about her. His cock hardened as her familiar image flooded his vision and he inwardly cursed his lack of self-control. With her, he’d never had much of it. Then again, neither had she.
After they’d broken up he’d tried to keep tabs on her but she’d fallen off the face of the earth. The vampire and werewolf communities didn’t exactly communicate. Not openly anyway, and he hadn’t been able to find out where she’d gone. He’d hoped she’d been living safely among her own kind. With her royal family. Protected and treasured as she should be. But after killing his uncle he’d heard a rumor she’d left her coven. He hadn’t been able to validate it as truth or not. After that shred of gossip, there had been no word, not even a whisper of her, for the past seventeen years among any of his contacts. It was like she’d vanished.
It seemed too much to hope she was at his compound, but his heart rate increased just the same.
To see her again, to hold her again… His throat squeezed at the thought. Pushing her out of his life had been the hardest thing he’d ever done, but he’d had no choice.
Their affair had been short, intense, and completely forbidden. Vampires and werewolves were natural born enemies. They didn’t sleep together, much less fall in love. Until he and Lyra had. But eventually he’d had to face reality.
If his uncle had discovered his relationship with a vampire, he’d have killed Lyra out of sheer spite. Even if Finn had broken from the pack and run away with Lyra—which he’d wanted to do—his uncle would have hunted them down and still had her killed out of pettiness. Not because he hated vampires—though he had despised them—but purely because of his hatred for Finn. From the moment Finn had been born, his uncle had made his life a living hell… Finn shook his head sharply.
Now was no time to dwell on the past. Vampires didn’t just show up unannounced onto werewolf property. And vice versa. If Lyra was at his compound she was there for a reason and he needed to get to her before things escalated and someone got hurt.
Acknowledgments
As usual, I owe a huge thanks to Kari Walker and Carolyn Crane for their help with this book. Thank you ladies for all your wonderful insight. I also owe thanks to Joan Turner and Tanya Hyatt for all their help. For my readers, thank you guys for reading my books! I appreciate your emails, tweets and Facebook messages more than you all know. I’m also grateful to Jaycee with Sweet ‘N Spicy Designs for her beautiful design work. I always wonder how she’s going to outdo herself—and she does with each new cover.
Complete Booklist
Red Stone Security Series
No One to Trust
Danger Next Door
Fatal Deception
Miami, Mistletoe & Murder
His to Protect
Breaking Her Rules
Protecting His Witness
Sinful Seduction
The Serafina: Sin City Series
Sensual Surrender
Sweetest Surrender
Deadly Ops Series
Targeted
Bound to Danger (2014)
Non-series Romantic Suspense
Running From the Past
Everything to Lose
Dangerous Deception
Dangerous Secrets
Killer Secrets
Deadly Obsession
Danger in Paradise
His Secret Past
Paranormal Romance
Destined Mate
Protector’s Mate
A Jaguar’s Kiss
Tempting the Jaguar
Enemy Mine
Heart of the Jaguar
Moon Shifter Series (paranormal romance)
Alpha Instinct
Lover’s Instinct (novella)
Primal Possession
Mating Instinct
His Untamed Desire (novella)
Avenger’s Heat
Darkness Series
Darkness Awakened
Taste of Darkness (2014)
About the Author
Katie Reus is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Red Stone Security series, the Moon Shifter series and the Deadly Ops series. She fell in love with romance at a young age thanks to books she pilfered from her mom’s stash. Years later she loves reading romance almost as much as she loves writing it.
However, she didn’t always know she wanted to be a writer. After changing majors many times, she finally graduated summa cum laude with a degree in psychology. Not long after that she discovered a new love. Writing. She now spends her days writing dark paranormal romance and sexy romantic suspense. For more information on Katie please visit her website: www.katiereus.com. Also find her on twitter @katiereus or visit her on facebook at: www.facebook.com/katiereusauthor. If you would like to be notified of future releases, please join her newsletter. Direct link: http://eepurl.com/jEABv