Taste of Darkness

by Katie Reus

  “Do you know where they are?” Lyra asked, not needing to specify who.

  “No.”

  Her lips pulled into a thin line, but she nodded once, as if she believed him. Something deep inside him felt the need to defend Victoria though so he continued. “Victoria would never let harm come to Vega. She’d die first.”

  To his surprise, Lyra let out a sigh and half-smiled, the action making her look younger than normal. Because of the way supernaturals aged, she looked to be barely in her late twenties, even though she was close to a hundred. “I know. It’s the only reason I’m not even really angry. Finn is…well, Finn is being a protective father but he’s new to all this and doesn’t understand teenage girls,” she muttered. “So what are you up to tonight anyway?”

  “Heading to the fights,” he said without thinking. He hadn’t managed to tamp down the rage or humiliation inside him. If Victoria truly pitied him… He quickly banished that thought. The only way to let off this energy right now was to fight. Luckily Finn let his pack and other supernaturals in the area brawl at a private fight club, letting out all their aggression and anger. There weren’t many rules except no weapons, no shifting during the fight and that shit didn’t leave the ring.

  Lyra’s eyes glowed brightly for a moment before she cursed and took a step forward. He wasn’t sure why she’d cursed, but he watched her, trying to understand the action. “Are you flying or catching a ride over there?” she asked.

  So she knew he couldn’t drive. He shrugged. “Flying, probably.” It was quickest.

  “I’ll go with you. I’ll carry your clothes if you want.”

  Though Drake was surprised the Alpha’s mate wanted to go to the fights, he nodded. “Fine. I need to strip.” He wanted to give her a chance to turn around. Once she did he stripped and set his clothes and phone on the ground. Not all vamps could fly, but she was from one of the strongest bloodlines and a born vampire, not made, and she had no problem flying a decent distance.

  Without a word she grasped his belongings and took flight, shooting into the air with only a whisper of sound in her wake. He quickly followed suit after shifting.

  He’d never lost a fight and he didn’t plan to tonight. He just hoped there were some actual challengers in the ring because he needed to let out all the aggression burning inside him. He refused to be an object of pity. Victoria needed to see him in a different light. He just had to figure out how to show her.

  Chapter Three

  “I can’t believe you texted my parents,” Vega muttered as she and Victoria made their way through the growing crowd of various supernatural beings to watch one of the ongoing fights. The scent of blood and sweat filled the air along with the steady hum of conversation.

  The weekly fights in Biloxi were at one of Finn’s properties, a warehouse in the middle of a self-storage place that Finn also owned. It was well-guarded and no humans were allowed in. “Deal with it,” Victoria murmured, looking around at the familiar faces of her pack members. There were other supernatural beings there including vampires and half-demons.

  Considering Vega’s power, Victoria’s own healing powers, and the fact that so many packmates were in attendance she wasn’t worried about keeping Vega safe. It was the only reason Victoria had agreed to let the teenager come. Well, that and she couldn’t really have stopped her. Vega had been determined to get out of the mansion tonight and see the fights.

  “It’s not like they’re going to blame you. You saved my mom’s life and my dad adores you,” Vega continued, grumbling.

  “Yeah well, you’re their daughter. They need to know you’re safe,” Victoria said, pinning Vega with her gaze.

  The younger female let out a sigh. “You’re annoying when you’re right.”

  Victoria grinned and turned away, still scanning the crowd, and hoping Gabriel wasn’t there. If he was, he’d definitely tell Finn about Vega’s presence. Victoria would have told Drake the exact place they were headed, but she’d known Vega wanted some relative independence from all males and the girl would have gone with or without Victoria. And it’s not like she would have told on her so she’d had to accompany the teenager.

  “This is crazy.” Victoria looked around in awe and saw that some females and males actually had signs made up cheering on their favorite fighter.

  And most of the signs were for Drake. She frowned at that. She’d never come to these fights because they bothered her healer nature on the deepest level.

  “No kidding. I guess Drake’s very popular here.” Vega’s eyes were wide as she also looked around and Victoria wondered if she’d made a mistake in coming here. Vega was young, but she wasn’t a normal teenage girl either. And she was just trying to spread her wings a little.

  Before Victoria could contemplate her decision, a male appeared at her side, seemingly out of nowhere. Bo Broussard, tall, muscular, half-demon and a little scary.

  He smiled at both of them, but his red-colored contacts—matching his red-streaked dark hair—took away from the friendliness. “Victoria, Vega,” he said politely.

  “Dude, your eyes are freaky as shit tonight,” Vega said, then her eyes widened in embarrassment. “I mean—”

  To Victoria’s surprise, the male laughed and said, “Good. That’s what I was going for.” Then he held out his arms for both of them. “If you two ladies would like to accompany me, I have a front row seat. And I think you’re going to want to see who’s up next.”

  Victoria took his arm but stood in between him and Vega. No way was she letting the half-demon touch Vega, even innocently. Finn would lose his shit if that happened. The male was more or less accepted by their pack as a good male, but no one touched Finn’s daughter.

  As if he knew what she was thinking, Bo just grinned wickedly and led them through a crowd of people who parted for him. He took them to a bar that looped in front of a fighting ring. It was one of those octagonal types, not a regular boxing ring. There were a few feet separating the ring from the rest of the crowd, but no actual seats.

  Victoria looked at Bo questioningly. “I thought you had front row seats.”

  “No one here actually sits. I just saw you two and figured Vega was only going to be here until one of her parents found out and she’d want to see a fight.”

  So Bo knew that Vega wasn’t supposed to be here. Likely most of the pack here did too. Victoria didn’t think many of them would narc her out. At least not right away.

  When a cheer went up from the crowd, Victoria turned to see a huge man with bulging muscles pushing the ropes down and stepping into the ring. Maybe huge was an understatement.

  “Holy crap that guy’s big,” Vega shouted next to her to be heard over the cheering.

  Victoria nodded, wondering what kind of shifter he was. She turned to Bo. “How violent do these things get?”

  He shrugged and leaned close to her. “Not so bad. At least not bad enough for Vega to need to leave. It’s usually just shifters getting out their aggression.”

  Victoria let out a sigh of relief and pulled back from Bo. As she scanned the crowd she saw a flash of silvery-gray. Or she thought she did. A tall man and woman she didn’t recognize were moving through the crowd on the opposite side of the ring and Victoria could swear the man had eyes similar to Drake’s. Or maybe the male was just on her mind so she was imagining things. The male slid sunglasses on and turned away, taking away her view of him.

  As if her thoughts had conjured Drake up, the crowd started shouting his name, especially the scantily clad females holding signs with his name and little hearts painted on them.

  Signs. Seriously? She became aware that she was growling when Bo shot her a surprised glance.

  Looking for Drake, her breath caught in her throat when he dropped into the ring seemingly from nowhere. He’d probably done that camouflage thing he was so good at. It was almost as if he’d come from the rafters, which he very well may have. Shirtless, showing off his incredible physique that made her mouth water again
st her will as her eyes trailed over every inch of his cut body. He wore simple shorts, just like the other male in the ring. But that male had nothing on Drake’s raw sex appeal. Not even close.

  The supernatural beings went wild, but he didn’t seem to notice their shouting or jumping up and down at all. Turning his head, he looked straight at her, his expression unreadable. When he looked at Bo standing next to her, his eyes went pure silver for a moment, his lips thinning, before he turned away and faced off with his opponent. Since he’d been in Hell she wondered if he didn’t like Bo because the male was a half-demon.

  Next to her, Vega squeezed Victoria’s arm, clearly excited. The energy rolling off the girl was almost palpable over all the other scents of sweat, blood and even sex permeating the air. Looking around, Victoria saw Lyra standing about ten feet to their right, blending in with the crowd. For all of a second, it took Victoria off guard, but it shouldn’t have surprised her that the female was there.

  When the Alpha’s mate made eye contact with Victoria, she held a finger to her lips so Victoria nodded. It made her feel better that Vega’s mother was here and seemingly okay that the girl was watching the fight.

  Turning away so Vega wouldn’t also look in that direction, she focused on the ring. The other shifter, a bear if she had to guess considering the Kodiak tattoo on his left shoulder, started dancing back and forth on his feet loosely, as if he’d done this many times before.

  Victoria wondered if this was more of a formal type of fight but then Drake struck out, slamming his fist against the man’s face. Because of their height similarity, it was a strong hit, the bear shifter stumbling back before he rolled into the punch.

  From there it was on, the two males pummeling each other like the powerful shifters they were. The hits were hard and brutal and even though she was a shifter, Victoria had to tear her eyes away for a moment. She didn’t like seeing Drake getting punched even if he could take it. The sight made something inside her cry out in pain.

  Bo stepped closer to her, leaning in toward her ear and said, “The only rules here are that the opponents can’t use weapons—”

  He was cut off as a roar rent the air. Victoria turned back to the fight in time to see the bear shifter flying through the air in the opposite direction from them, clearly having been thrown out of the ring. Drake jumped over the ropes closest to her, his feet slamming against the concrete floor with enough force that the crowd quieted to a dull hum of conversation.

  Victoria could feel Bo moving back from her but Vega stayed close as Drake stalked to her. She was glad for the female’s presence because she didn’t want to be separated from her and right now she couldn’t tear her gaze from Drake’s electric one as he closed the rest of the distance between them.

  He kept coming, but looked away for a moment, glaring daggers at Bo. Coming to stand in front of her, Drake pulled the metal bar apart, snapping it cleanly so there was nothing separating them. He grabbed onto her hip in that territorial way of his and this time she was pretty sure he meant it for exactly as it was. A possessive gesture.

  Her mouth was bone dry. Out of the corner of Victoria’s eye, she saw and felt Lyra pulling Vega from her. She was mesmerized by Drake though. His eyes had gone pure silver and she could scent fire burning, as if he was ready to fry someone to a crisp. Her heart stuttered.

  “Don’t hurt him,” Victoria whispered, knowing he’d never hurt her so that fire must be intended for Bo.

  He didn’t pretend not to understand, but Drake looked over her shoulder, presumably at Bo, and bared his teeth. A low rumble of anxiety rippled through the crowd, but the scent of fire died as he looked back at her, his eyes still shimmering that beautiful silver. “You don’t belong here,” he rasped out, as if talking was difficult.

  She might like—okay, more than just like—Drake, but no one was going to tell her what to do. “Why not?” she demanded.

  His nostrils flared and he seemed to struggle to form a response. “This is not a place for a female like you.”

  At his words, something sharp detonated inside her. She tried to take a step back but he refused to let her go. So she smacked her hand against his chest—and resisted the urge to stroke his hard body like her inner wolf craved. “Like me?” she asked quietly, not wanting everyone to overhear them. “As opposed to those groupies of yours? Sorry if I’m cramping your style,” she snapped and tried to step back again. She had no claim on him and regretted the clear jealousy threading through her words.

  Drake just held firm, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion. “Cramp my…” Blinking, he looked around at the females holding signs then pinned her with that electric gaze again. To her surprise, he looked positively smug. “You’re jealous? Of them?” Smug or not, there was a hesitancy in his voice that soothed something inside her.

  Before she could respond, he leaned down and ran his nose against her jaw, down her neck and back up to her ear where he gently nuzzled her. A shiver raced down her spine and hit all her nerve endings. The action was so insanely blatant that no one could miss what he was doing.

  He was publicly claiming her.

  Maybe he didn’t realize what he was doing. He didn’t understand so much about this new world, but his actions were unmistakable to anyone watching.

  She clutched at his shoulders mostly in an effort to not collapse, though he’d never let her fall. Her legs felt weak and her breasts tingled as her covered chest came in contact with his bare one.

  “I want to taste you right now, but I don’t want an audience for our first kiss,” he whispered against her ear, sending another delicious shiver rolling through her.

  “I…” Her voice died so she just nodded. She wanted him to kiss her too, but for how she was feeling she didn’t care whether they had an audience or not. In her wildest imaginings she’d never thought Drake would do something like this.

  “Do you want to stay?” he asked in a low rumble, the sound vibrating through her and making the tingling worse.

  Throat tight, she shook her head. She wanted to feel his lips against hers, to feel the sensation of his bare skin against her bare body. Of course he hadn’t said he wanted to do more than kiss her, but she couldn’t stop her fantasies.

  “Drake.” The sound of Gabriel growling his name made them both turn.

  To her surprise, Drake practically shoved her behind him as he turned to face Gabriel. There was no way Gabriel would ever hurt her, but Drake wouldn’t let her move out from behind him. So she peeked out around his back and saw Gabriel standing there wearing the loose gym shorts the fighters here wore and nothing else.

  “Hell no!” she shouted, immediately realizing his intention. She didn’t care that the crowd had grown deathly quiet and that everyone had heard her.

  Gabriel’s gaze shot to her in surprise. His green eyes flashed in annoyance. “I’m not going to kill him.”

  Drake just growled, but didn’t respond.

  “You’re not fighting him. Whatever your deal is, get over it. I won’t have two males I care about fighting.” And she wasn’t so much worried about Gabriel hurting Drake as the other way around. She’d only seen him fight in dragon form, other than the short fight tonight, but she doubted he had all these fans because he sucked.

  Gabriel ignored her and focused on Drake. “You gonna hide behind your female?”

  Drake let out a dark chuckle. “I’m glad you acknowledge she’s my female.”

  Despite the tenseness of the situation, Victoria heard Vega giggle behind her and found herself half-smiling. Lord, these two males were ridiculous. “Enough, both of you. Gabriel, Drake and I are leaving. Now.” She really wanted to kiss him. Couldn’t wait to get him alone to do just that and a whole lot more.

  “No. We will fight. He needs to know I am worthy of you.” The deadly edge to Drake’s voice sent a chill down her spine and not in a good way.

  Worthy? What the hell? She clutched onto his waist, her fingers digging into his skin as fear rolled o
ff her so potent she knew he had to scent it. Both males were strong and she didn’t want either of them hurt. It was the healer in her. And the truth was, she didn’t know who would win. “Please don’t, Drake.”

  He turned and his eyes had turned a flat gray. “You think he will best me?”

  Throat tight, she shook her head. “It’s not that. I just…” She didn’t know what to say. Couldn’t find any words to make him stop. The thought of these two males fighting sliced her up. “Please don’t.”

  His jaw tightened as he stepped away from her. “I must.”

  Just like that. As if her concerns didn’t matter. Victoria looked over at Vega and Lyra and found them both watching her. Lyra was hard to read, but it almost looked like pity in her eyes. Which was just too much to take.

  Turning away from the females, she made her way to the exit, the crowd parting and giving her a wide berth. She knew Lyra would get Vega home so Victoria didn’t feel bad leaving. There was no way she was watching Gabriel and Drake beat the crap out of each other over her. She simply couldn’t do it.

  As she exited into the cold night air, she scented Finn behind her before she’d cleared the door. She hadn’t seen him but he must have arrived with Gabriel or Lyra. Right now she didn’t want to talk to her Alpha or anyone.

  “Victoria!” She turned at Finn’s heated voice.

  Her Alpha’s ice blue eyes pinned her in annoyance. “I know you scented me.”

  She shrugged, wrapping her arms around herself as a cheer from inside went up. Guess the fight had started. Ugh. “Can you bitch at me later?”

  Surprising her, he reached out and pulled her into a hug. “I’m not going to bitch at you at all,” he muttered against the top of her head. “Thank you for escorting Vega here.”

  She pulled back from his embrace. “She was coming tonight with or without me.”