Henri put his arm around her and pulled her into a hug. “Just because I can control myself around you, doesn’t mean that I’m not constantly aware of you. To a young vampire, your scent alone is enough to drive him out of his mind.”
Sera stiffened in his arms. She knew that he wanted to drink from her and that it had taken some self-control to stop when he had, but to hear him talk like that made her very uncomfortable. She pulled away from him and looked into his eyes.
“So when we’re talking, or kissing, or having sex, the whole time you’re stopping yourself from killing me?” she asked.
Henri frowned at that. “No, it isn’t like that. Not for me. I can’t deny, however, that I’m constantly aware of you, more specifically, your blood.”
Sera nodded. “And that’s why you want me around, because my blood makes you want me.”
“Sera, that’s not true,” Henri insisted. “I’ve gotten to know you now. If you were a human or something else entirely, it wouldn’t make a difference in how much I want you.”
She felt a little foolish for being so needy and unsure, but she couldn’t help it.
“We should get you packed up,” Leo said. “Just grab the things important to you, things that can’t be replaced. The sooner we get done at the police station and get back home the better.”
Leo didn’t get it, and neither did Henri, how could they? She’d had nothing for most of her life. Everything in her flat she had worked hard for. Every purchase she had made for herself had been done so with pride. There was nothing there that wasn’t important, but she understood that she couldn’t take everything.
She was starting a new life, one where she still didn’t know if she truly fit in.
Chapter Seventeen
Sera had been quiet the entire ride home. The full moon was already visible despite it not being completely dark. Leo could feel it in his blood. It was like someone had given him a shot of adrenalin. He was glad that Henri was driving because he tended to find himself driving faster on nights of the full moon without even realising it. He wouldn’t be surprised if Henri had done that on purpose.
Over the years, Leo had gotten used to being without a pack. On full moon nights, however, he had to admit that he missed it. He missed the celebration of it and the sense of community. Of course he soon reminded himself of all the other times when things weren’t quite so idyllic in his pack.
As they pulled into their drive, Leo’s senses picked up something that didn’t belong. There in the driveway was a car that Leo didn’t recognize.
“Price,” Henri said, his calm voice surely betraying how he really felt.
Leo’s hackles went up. “What the hell is he doing here? Who does he think he is, showing up here like this?”
“Calm down,” Henri warned.
“Price?” Sera asked from the backseat. “The vampire who wants to kidnap me is here, and you’re telling Leo to calm down?”
“He’s a bastard, but he isn’t stupid,” Henri said. “He’s not here to take you.”
“I should kill him,” Leo seethed.
“Perhaps you should stay in the car,” Henri suggested. “I’ve only just gotten those blood stains out of my rug.”
Leo rolled his eyes at Henri’s attempt at humor, got out of the car, and opened the back door for Sera. He was going to keep her close to him, that was for sure.
Leo had never met Price but he’d heard enough to form an opinion. He had imagined him to be somewhat like Bale, a slimy snake who exploited weaknesses in an attempt to cease power.
He was surprised when a man who appeared to be in his thirties, though no doubt much older, stepped out of the car. He was wearing a pale gray suit, complete with a waistcoat and a silver chain pocket watch. He adjusted his tie and smiled over at them. He was accompanied by two other men and a woman. Two of them were vampires, but one of the men was human, or perhaps a witch. Witches smelled like regular humans. It was frustrating to werewolves who relied so heavily on their sense of smell.
“Henri,” Price greeted the other vampire. “It’s been a long time.”
“So it has,” Henri said as he walked the other side of Sera.
There was a language that people like Henri and Price spoke, the well-to-do could hold entirely different conversations under the one they were actually having.
Leo clocked Price’s gaze, and the gazes of his people, as they hungrily raked over Sera. He would liken it to a dog watching its human eat a steak right in front of him.
“Forgive the intrusion. I know it’s bad manners to simply show up here, but once I heard what Bale’s men had done, I simply had to come and apologize in person,” Price said.
He nodded to one of his men, who pulled a bottle of what looked like wine out of a black velvet bag.
“A small token,” Price said as the man handed it to Henri.
“A two-thousand-and-nine Bordeaux,” Henri said as he examined the bottle. “You shouldn’t have.”
“Nonsense, attacking you in your home like he did,” Price said with a disgusted tut. “Unspeakable. But then, what can we expect from a werewolf?”
Leo knew Henri would be proud of him for holding back a growl at the insult.
“So that you have a problem with, but hiring someone to kidnap me is fine?” Sera asked, clearly not ready to play along with the fake niceties. Leo felt a little bit proud of her for that.
“My dear,” Price said. “I merely told Bale his debt would be forgiven if he could find me a nephilim. From what I understand Bale hired Mr. Ryan here to track you down. I wanted information on you, nothing more.”
Leo wanted to argue, but the vampire actually had a point. If it hadn’t been for the vampire attack on Sera that night, Leo would no doubt have followed her for a while and passed the information back to Bale.
“I can’t help but feel I’ve been painted as a villain here,” Price said. “I merely wished to get to know you, Sera, to offer you protection.”
Leo bristled at the use of Sera’s name. He didn’t even like the vampire knowing it, let alone using it.
“Well, as you can see, I’m fine, thank you,” Sera said. She slid her arm through Henri’s. “I’m very happy here.”
Leo hoped that was true. He knew the circumstances behind Sera coming to live with them weren’t exactly ideal, but he hoped that she was starting to feel at home. It would help now that she had her things. Henri, bless him, had insisted she bring her knickknacks, including a silver throw cushion. It said a lot about Henri’s affection for Sera that he was willing to have her cheap mass-produced cushion on his high-end antique furniture. Leo knew that deep down Henri was going to hate it.
“So I see,” Price said with a smooth smile. “Well, now that I have said what I came to say, I’ll leave you in peace.”
Leo doubted that very much.
“Thank you for stopping by,” Henri said, doling out as much fake pleasantries as Price. “And for the wine.”
“Goodbye, Henri,” he said to Henri before turning his attention on Sera. There was no mistaking the hunger in his eyes. “Miss Lightbourne.”
With that, the vampire left, completely ignoring Leo.
The three of them waited until Price’s car had left the drive. The moment he was out of sight Sera visibly relaxed.
“Vampires really don’t like you, do they, Leo?”
Leo snorted and unlocked the front door. “The feeling’s mutual.”
He knew he didn’t have to amend that sentence to exclude Henri. His mate knew how Leo felt.
“Which makes me even more curious about how the two of you got together,” Sera said.
Leo watched her toe off her shoes and shrug off her jacket. It was nice seeing her get comfortable like that.
“What do you want to know?” Henri asked.
The car was filled with boxes that needed to be moved, but Leo felt they had all done enough for one day.
“How did you two meet?” Sera asked. She pulled one of Leo’s
hoodies off the coat rack and put it on. It was massive on her but looked utterly adorable. Leo couldn’t stop himself from pulling her into his arms and burying his nose in her hair.
“We met in Ireland,” Henri said as he walked past them to the kitchen.
Leo let go of Sera and the two of them followed after him. He hoisted himself up onto the worktop and watched as Henri filled the kettle with water. Although he didn’t eat solids, Henri still drank, even though he didn’t need to.
Leo thought that it was perhaps the ritual of drinking that Henri liked, that maybe it made him feel more human.
“Okay, that’s where, not how,” Sera pointed out. She came to stand between Leo’s legs. “Leo’s from there so it’s obvious why he was there, what about you?”
“There’s a vampire coven there that had ties to my old one,” Henri told her as he set about making three cups of tea. “It was at odds with the local wolf pack.”
“That would be my lot,” Leo said, giving Sera a little squeeze with his legs.
“Seven of my coven, including me, went over to talk about a business arrangement, and needless to say the wolves weren’t happy about even more vampires showing up in their area,” Henri explained. “I found myself in the woods, trying to stay clear of a particular handsy vampire who made it clear, every time he saw me, that he wanted me.”
“And who could blame him,” Leo joked affectionately.
“Anyway, some of Leo’s pack found me there and surrounded me,” Henri said. “They were all young and mouthing off about how much respect they’d get for killing a vampire.”
“And then I showed up and saved him,” Leo added.
“More like you showed up and stopped me from having to kill a bunch of teenagers in self-defense,” Henri amended.
Leo smiled at that. The fact was that it was probably true.
“Okay, so how do you get from there to this?” Sera asked as she looked between the two of them.
“We were in Ireland for a couple of months,” Henri told her. “Honestly, I thought it would be amusing to seduce and bed the attractive young werewolf from the woods. There wasn’t much to do there and I was bored.”
“Wow,” Sera said. “That was kind of an arsehole move.”
“Guilty,” Henri said as he handed her a cup of tea. “Little did I know that I was going to fall in love with him.”
He leaned up and gave Leo what he was sure Henri meant to be a quick kiss, but Leo put his hand on the back of Henri’s head and pulled him in, deepening it.
When he released Henri, he saw that Sera was smiling at them both.
“We kept it a secret, of course,” Henri said. He went over to where he had left both his and Leo’s drinks and brought them back with him.
“Until we were found out,” Leo said. He blew on his tea before taking a sip. “We almost started up a war that had been dead for ten years.”
Sera looked pensive. Leo didn’t want to push her so he waited for her to talk.
“Do you think Price was telling the truth?” she finally asked.
“No,” Leo answered straight away.
“Which part?” Henri asked at the same time.
“He said he just wanted to know where I was,” she said. “That he wasn’t going to just take me.”
“The thing you need to know about Price is, he’s very smooth,” Henri told her. “He knew that by denying everything it would get back to Eva, and she would have no way of proving his true intentions.”
“So should I still be worried about him?” Sera asked.
Leo knew that she had been worrying about Price and any other vampire that might come for her. It wasn’t a nice way to live, always being in fear. “Sera, luv, whoever out there might want to take you away from us, will have one hell of a fight on their hands.”
“You don’t need to worry,” Henri added. He stroked his hand down the side of her face. “We won’t let anything happen to you.”
Sera smiled at him, though Leo could tell she wasn’t entirely convinced.
“Look, I don’t exactly know how these…powers of your work,” Leo said. “But we’ve all seen what you’re capable of.”
“Yeah, but if I can’t control it, then how can I use it to protect myself?” Sera asked.
“I know a witch,” Henri began.
“Didn’t you say that witches will want to use my blood for their magic?” Sera asked.
“Actually, that was me,” Leo said.
“You might have guessed that Leo isn’t exactly friendly toward other underworlders,” Henri said dryly.
Sera smirked at that. “I’m glad it doesn’t include me.”
Leo responded by placing a kiss on the back of her neck.
“I’ve known Carolynn for twenty years,” Henri told Sera. “I obviously can’t find another nephilim to teach you how to use your abilities, but perhaps Carolynn could help.”
Sera didn’t look convinced, but she gave Henri another forced smile nonetheless. “Sure.”
“I know this isn’t exactly the life you had planned,” Henri began.
“You saw my flat,” Sera interrupted him. “You know, I thought I was okay, that my life was just fine, but seeing everything I own fit into the boot of your car, I realised that’s all I have. I checked my phone. I was gone for days and the only people who called or text me where the police and some guy I work with.”
Leo knew that feeling. “Hell, if it weren’t for Henri, and now you, I wouldn’t have anyone in my life.”
“Yes, my love, but that’s by choice,” Henri explained.
“My point is,” Sera went on, “that I don’t really know what I wanted for my life. There was no plan beyond being able to pay next month’s rent.”
“And now you live here with a vampire and a werewolf,” Henri said.
“Exactly,” Sera said. “And yes, having people want me for my blood is beyond disturbing, but then if I wasn’t a nephilim, I wouldn’t be here now with the two of you.”
“I think she’s coming round to us,” Leo joked.
Sera nudged back into him. “I suppose you’re not so bad.”
“We’ll find our rhythm,” Henri promised her. “I’ll call Carolynn tomorrow and work something out.”
Henri might trust this Carolynn woman, but Leo was sure as hell going to be accompanying Sera to meet with her.
He felt a little hot so he got down from the counter, dislodging Sera, and pulled his shirt up over his head.
Henri raised an eyebrow at him. “Everything all right?”
“Yeah, it’s just the full moon,” Leo explained as he went to the sink and opened a window. “That and the fact I got het up over Price being here.”
“Do you need to run?” Henri asked.
Leo saw Sera frown. “Run?”
“It’s a wolf thing,” Henri explained. “On nights of the full moon werewolf packs run together, releasing their inner wolves.”
“Wait, as actual wolves?” Sera asked. There was an excited glint in her eyes. “I haven’t seen you as a wolf yet.”
Leo was surprised by her tone. He had thought that with everything she had seen of the underworld so far, Sera wouldn’t want to see him transform.
“Yes,” he said. On any other full moon night he would be out there now, running through the nearby woods, but he knew that he wouldn’t really enjoy it knowing that Sera and Henri were alone in the house. Unless. “Do you want to come with me?”
“Where?” Sera asked.
“The woods.”
Sera looked hesitant for only a moment before her eyes lit up. “Hell yeah.”
Chapter Eighteen
The moon was beautiful. The silver orb hung high in the sky casting its pale glow across the woods. It was warm, too, which Sera appreciated. She was still bundled up in Leo’s oversized hoodie—well, it was oversized on her at least. On Leo, it was probably snug. The woods were just behind the house on the other side of the river. It didn’t take more than ten minutes to w
alk around to reach it.
Sera could smell Leo on the hoodie and it made her burrow down further into it.
“So, what do you do?” Sera asked. “You know, once you’re a wolf.”
Leo gave her an amused look.
“You know what I mean,” Sera said. “You mentioned going for a run. Does that mean I’m going to have to keep up with you? Because honestly, I’m not sure I have that in me.”
Henri slipped his arm around Leo’s waist and leaned into him as they walked. “Don’t worry, you and I will find a nice tree to sit against.”
Sera wasn’t sure if it was a vampire thing or not, to not care about sitting on the ground where the bugs lived. She supposed that bug bites weren’t something Henri had to deal with.
They weren’t very far into the woods when Leo stopped and promptly started unfastening his jeans. Sera noted the look of freedom on his face as he stripped down in front of them. She was excited and nervous at the same time. Leo, the man she was in some sort of relationship with, was about to turn into a wolf right in front of her.
“Over there,” Henri said as he nodded to a fallen tree.
Taking Sera’s hand in his he led her over to the tree and the two of them sat on it.
“What does it feel like?” Sera asked once Leo was fully naked. He brought his clothes over to them and handed them to Henri in a heap. “When you change.”
Leo grinned at her. “It feels like waking up. Running as a wolf, with all that speed, there’s nothing like it.”
Henri had no doubt seen it many times before, but he still watched as Leo got down on his knees and started to change. It wasn’t like in the horror films where bones would break and parts of him would grow. Instead, it was like a magic trick. One moment he was Leo, and the next he was a big black wolf.
Sera stared at him in awe as Leo walked over to them. His eyes were the same, not just the same silver blue colour, but his actual human eyes. It would have been unsettling if she didn’t know it was Leo in there.
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