Silver Blood (Blood Series Book 2)

by Tamara White

  When the kiss is over, he turns so he's facing the guys and looks down at me with an amused grin. "So, who's feeding our girl?"

  Dev fidgets as if he’s about to deliver some bad news, and I glare at him, growing frustrated. "Just spit it out, Dev."

  "Uh, well, it’s just that we have to leave to go meet up with Linc now. We're supposed to inform him if there are any new attacks, and we need to let him know there are wolves running around. Not that one wolf can really do too much damage against the pack, but still, as part of our agreement we have to tell him if anything like this ever happens," he says with a touch of annoyance in his tone.

  Nik frowns. "I still think he only did that so he could demand updates on Em any time we go. I mean, why can't it just be one of us? Why did he stipulate all three of us have to go?"

  Talon growls and rubs his temples in annoyance. "Okay, we'll go deal with this, and then we can come back and feed you right after. Is that okay? Do you think you can last that long?" Talon asks, his voice thick with concern.

  "Why don't I come with you, though? I could always feed from you in the car," I suggest hopefully.

  The door to the room opens, and my mother storms in, her eyes blazing. "You're not going, Emerald. Every time you leave the coven, you end up getting attacked. That tells me someone is hunting you, and I won't let you get hurt again."

  I go to open my mouth to argue, but I see my father coming in behind her, shaking his head with a look of concern, and decide to let it go. For now. Besides, without all the guys here, it might give me the chance to do what my beast is dying to do: hunt.

  She looks at my guys with hard eyes. "We're leaving now. Lincoln has agreed to loan us more wolf guards to stay here and protect Emerald while we are gone, but we must hurry before whoever is behind these attacks figures out our next move. Macy and Britt have already left for their coven in the hopes they too, can get extra wards around the church. We've also cancelled any markets until this mess is all sorted. We don't want to risk the chance someone will try sneak in."

  She turns to leave without another word, and my father gives me a sympathetic smile. "Sorry, Em. She gets pretty protective when someone she loves is threatened. Something I've heard you have in common.” He winks, and I blush under his scrutiny.

  Nik and Dev each offer me a quick kiss, before following my mother, and my father trails after them. Talon lingers behind and pulls me close. "Listen, Em, I know you want revenge for the wolf almost killing Blaine, but please, don't do anything stupid while we’re gone. Just stay here, and we'll be back before you know it."

  I don't say anything, knowing I can't keep that promise. The moment they leave, I'm going to hunt that wolf down and make him regret ever coming near me or mine. My beast growls her agreement in my mind, and Talon hesitates, as if he knows what we're thinking.

  He goes somewhat reluctantly, as if he's afraid to leave me, but he should know by now I am more than capable of protecting myself.

  I wait for ten minutes after they leave before I go and change into a different set of clothes, a pair I can easily throw away. I'm already thinking about the cleanup of his body, and ensuring no one will ever find out what I did.

  The scent of the wolf who escaped after ripping a hole in Blaine's neck is still burned into my mind, and I am more determined to find him than anyone could understand. He hurt my guys. Then had the audacity to try and kill my friend’s husband, someone I've grown to like. No, he doesn't get to run.

  I will hunt him down like the dirty animal he is.

  My backpack is just big enough to stash a spare set of clothes and a small dagger. I don't bother packing anything else, knowing when I shift, I won't need it.

  I tread slowly through the halls, doing my best not to sneak, knowing if I look suspicious, I’ll be more likely to be pulled to the side and questioned.

  When the elevator opens up on the ground floor, I step out, freezing at the sight before me. Felicia is chatting with my grandparents, her eyes sparkling as she laughs at whatever they just said. She notices me, taking note of the bag on my shoulder, and works to keep my grandparents distracted as I turn and walk in the opposite direction to the back door.

  When I reach the other end, I smile at her gratefully and mouth 'thank you' before sneaking out into the cool night air, determined to get rid of this vermin.

  I don't know how long I walk before I come across a park lined with benches and trees surrounding the path.

  My nose twitches as I breathe in the scent of the wolf I’m tracking. I drop the bag to the ground, looking for a place to hide it and get undressed.

  Along the beginning of the path, near the first bench is a shrub with red berries, and I decide it’s probably the best I'm going to get for a hiding place. I strip down, letting my beast push forward, the shift taking me in seconds.

  My beast utters a growl from behind the bushes, our senses tenfold now we're free. I let her have more of the reins and take a back seat as she hunts for our prey.

  As I prowl through the trees, I notice the scent of humans has pretty much been overwhelmed by that of the wolf we're hunting. He must have frightened off the humans and ran out here to hide. What surprises me is the fact he hasn't come out and attacked me yet. If he's walking through the trees, he would have scented me by now.

  I turn a corner and see an old maintenance shed, most likely used to store the park workers’ tools and such.

  I take a step towards it, just as the wolf leaps out from the darkened trees beside the shed. He lands on me, but I throw him off in one quick movement, my beast filled with rage. He is nothing! We will crush him!

  A growl rumbles in my chest as he takes a step forward, and I push power out at him. I am an Alpha! How dare he defy my orders?

  The human part of him wars with his wolf, and he ends up attacking. My beast is thrilled by this, though. She knows I want to kill him, not in cold blood, but in the heat of combat.

  We roll around on the ground, his jaws snapping precariously close to my neck as we fight to gain the upper ground, until he slips up, leaving himself exposed for my attack. I bite into his chest, the part concealing his heart, and clamp down, enjoying the spray of blood that fills my mouth as his heart beats frantically, trying to heal his wounds. My beast smiles triumphantly in my mind as she tugs out part of his rib cage, his heart coming along with it.

  The light in his eyes dies out like the insignificant ant he is, and I sit on my haunches, my beast receding to the back of my mind now that the threat is gone. I lap at the blood that flows freely from his wound.

  When I finally feel satiated, I sit up, stretching out lazily. I hear a twig snap from behind me, and I spin with a ferocious growl, protecting my kill. I take in a quick sniff, scenting the wolf and know he wants my meal.

  The wolf in front of me is someone I know, though.

  "Well, look what we have here. I have to say, Emerald, I thought you'd be too soft for such carnage."

  My beast instantly calms at his presence, and I feel the shift collapse back inside me as if she was never free to begin with.

  I stand naked before Lincoln and look down at the dead wolf at my feet, not feeling an ounce of guilt. All I feel is hungry. While my wolf side has just been fed, my vampire nature still requires sustenance.

  "Go ahead, little killer. Drink your fill."

  I frown, wondering if he's disgusted by the thought and decide maybe he's just testing me to see if I will. I move around behind the dead wolf, pulling his lifeless body into my lap and latching onto his neck.

  While I feed, I look up at Lincoln, expecting him to have left or be observing with revulsion, but instead he watches me with lust-filled eyes.

  When I'm done, I drop the wolf’s lifeless, drained body and stand, not caring that I’m now covered in even more blood.

  Lincoln’s eyes run over my naked body. Despite the blood, his eyes are burning with desire. He takes a step towards me, and my beast purrs in eagerness. My nipples harden as he get
s closer, until he's right in front of me.

  He reaches out, running a hand down my ribs, caressing the edge of my breast as he does so, and smirks cockily when I let out a sharp gasp.

  "Don't," I breathe out as he lowers his mouth to hover over mine.

  "Just a taste. That's all I want," he murmurs. My heart hammers wildly in my chest, moisture pooling between my legs.

  He takes my silence as a yes and presses his lips to mine. I respond eagerly as his hands slide down to my waist, holding me pressed against him, so I can feel his growing arousal.

  Before I know it, he ends the kiss, backing away with a grin. "Told you, killer. Just wanted a taste."

  My heart is pounding loudly as I try to process what happened, and I realize what I just did. I let him kiss me!

  "Stop... calling... me... killer!" I growl between clenched teeth as I glare at him, blaming him for everything that just happened, when deep down, I know it’s my fault. There's something wrong with me. Hell, I'm attracted to my best friend’s husbands for God’s sake! That's not normal!

  He leans against the tree nearest him and smirks as his eyes flick from me to the body on the ground. "But it suits you so well. I thought you were going to be some weak little mate who needed protection from others, but you, you don't need anyone to protect you, do you?"

  He watches me intently, but I remain quiet, not wanting to admit that if anyone needs protection, it’s the people who mean me harm.

  "That's your secret, isn't it? Those three soul-ties want to protect you, but at the end of the day, I bet you’d be the one better equipped to protect them, than the other way around. Hell, I bet with proper training you could take on an army by yourself.” He laughs and takes a step away from the tree to look down at the lifeless body.

  I follow his gaze, worried about what to do. Lincoln is surely going to inform my parents about this kill, which is just going to lead to me getting in shit. It’s not like I can call one of the guys and say, 'Oh yeah, sorry, guys, but I may have left the coven to hunt down this piece of shit who hurt Blaine. Now I need help disposing of the body.'

  I doubt they'll ever trust me again, but I needed to do this. I know it’s stupid when Blaine isn't really mine, but I couldn't stand the thought of the wolf returning to finish the job.

  "Don't worry about the mess, killer. I'll take care of it for you."

  I let a sigh of relief cross my lips and relax a little, but then a thought occurs to me. "Wait, why would you do that?"

  He opens his mouth, when I remember the guys and my parents had been going to meet Linc earlier. "Shit, if you're here, the others must have already headed back to the coven. I need to go."

  He grabs my arm, preventing me from running off. His sky blue eyes stare deeply into mine, offering reassurance. "Relax, killer. I left them with my Beta so I could come take care of this little problem, but you just beat me to it. And as for why I would do that for you, it’s because you're my mate. Even if you killed an entire pack, I would cover for you."

  The sincerity in his tone has me confused as to how to respond. On the one hand, it’s sweet that he would go to such lengths to protect me, but hiding the fact I killed a whole pack? I don't know whether to go 'Awww, that's sweet' or 'You're a fucking psychopath.’

  "Why did you come here, though? You could have just sent your Beta," I ask in confusion. To have an Alpha doing the pack’s dirty work is rare to say the least.

  He reaches a hand out, trailing it down my cheek, which sends goose bumps all over my body. "I'm an Alpha, my little killer. That means protecting what's mine, not letting others do it for me."

  He takes a step closer, pressing his body against my naked one. "My Beta can handle all the political bullshit the coven likes to go through. But when someone threatens my mate, I will burn down the world if I have to in order to destroy them."

  My heart picks up pace at his declaration, and I find myself asking, "How do you know I'm your mate?"

  He smirks, catching my bottom lip between his teeth. He pulls on it gently before letting go. "I know the same way you do, even though you’re trying to ignore it. The racing of your heart, the way your eyes dilate when I’m staring at you, then there's the feelings that ignite when I kiss you. You may not feel it as strongly as I do, but when I touch your skin, my body feels like it’s being electrified, in a good way."

  I pant softly as he speaks, feeling the truth of his words. "Can't you feel it, even a little bit? The pull when we're around each other?" he asks, running a finger down my collarbone, and I fight the sudden shiver, blaming it on the cold.

  I take a step back out of reach. "No, I have three soul-ties. Whatever this is, it’s not real. It’s just hormones. I feel nothing for you."

  "Fine, if you want to live in denial, then have it your way. But there's gonna come a time when you can't fight it anymore. Your wolf already craves me, and the longer you deny the mating, the stronger the need will get."

  He walks around me and over to the little shed, pausing to look back. "Well, come on, I gotta hose you down if you don't want to drag wolf blood through the coven. I'm assuming you don't want your soul-ties to know you were out on this little run?"

  "Oh, thank you," I say gratefully. I hadn’t even thought about hosing off the worst of it before going back. I hadn’t really thought much beyond killing the wolf, to be honest. It’s a very smart idea, though.

  He brings over the hose and I shiver in the cold, waiting for the spray of water to hit me. He aims the cold stream at the worst of the blood-soaked areas before slowly running the water over my chest, taking great care like I'm some kind of plant that needs watering. I glare at him, and he chuckles wickedly, gesturing for me to come closer. "I need to do your hair. It’s gone from strawberry-blonde to a pale pink."

  I sigh and bend down so he can run the water over my hair, rinsing out as much of the blood out as he can manage. Hopefully, I’ll be able to sneak back in without anyone catching sight of me, so I can shower it off more thoroughly before the guys return.

  He turns the tap off with a sigh. "There, all done. Better get some clothes on, though. I doubt the people of St. Louis are prepared to see you roaming the streets in the buff."

  I shake my head and walk away to find the bush where I hid my clothes. Lincoln follows after me, talking as he does. "You know I don't want you to give up your soul-ties, right? I understand they're just as important to you as I am. I just want you to give me a chance."

  "Look, Linc, I don't know what to do with that information. One of my soul-ties is already encouraging me to date you, and I just... I want to do what I want without everyone telling me what they think is best. I want the chance to figure shit out on my own without constantly fearing a reprimand for my actions."

  "I can understand that. I just want you to know that if you ever need me for anything, you can call on me and my pack. I'll drop everything for you."

  With that last statement, he turns and strolls back to the dead wolf, hiking it up over his shoulder like a hunter carrying its trophy. "See you around, killer.” He winks and takes off quickly in the opposite direction I came from.

  The moment he's gone from sight, I resume my walk through the trees to where my bag is. I throw the same clothes back on, not bothering with a bra or underwear, knowing I'm just going to destroy these clothes anyway.

  I rush back to the coven, and manage to sneak in the front door and up the elevator without being seen. Thankfully, the guys aren't back yet, so I hurriedly climb into the shower, keeping my clothes on as I do. I scrub the clothes down using the scented body wash I find so overpowering. If it worked to hide my arousal around my parents, I’m hoping it’ll do the trick this time, too.

  Once I'm sure there's no scent of the outside left on them, I strip off the wet clothes, throwing them in the corner. Then I get to work, washing my body and hair at least five times to ensure there's no chance of someone picking up the scent of the wolf I killed.

  When I'm finally satisfie
d, I get out of the shower and quickly dry myself off before wrapping myself in a towel. Then I move over to the vanity and proceed to brush my teeth, my tongue, the inside of my cheeks, and even the roof of my mouth, trying to be as thorough as possible.

  After I'm done and dressed, I look around, trying to decide where I can take them to be destroyed. I’ll just stash them away in the hamper for now. Who knows, maybe a maid or something will take care of them? Then again, I haven't seen a maid in here before. Well, if the guys ask why they're wet, I'll just say I wasn't feeling well and went into the shower to vomit. The majority of the blood is gone, as is the scent of wolf so the likelihood of them figuring out what I’ve done is pretty slim, but it still doesn’t calm my racing heart.

  Shit! I am so goddamn stupid. What if the wolf’s blood comes back up? What am I going to say? Maybe that I decided to try a bag of the cloned blood because I got hungry waiting for them?

  I pause as I step out of the bedroom, feeling a sliver of guilt sneaking in. I hate that I'm going to lie to them, but I don't think they'll understand why I did what I did. Even I’m having trouble comprehending it and I’m starting to wonder more about Britt’s words about being territorial of her guys. My desire to kill that wolf didn’t come from just worrying about him being out there, but the fear of him hurting Blaine again.

  The cabinet under the TV is open, so I pull out one of the guys’ video games, knowing then my high emotions can be explained away by the violence and fast-paced movements.

  About an hour later they come home. I'm just lazily sitting there, beating the guys’ high scores when they fan out behind the couch, looking down at me.

  "How'd the meeting go?" I ask on the end of a yawn. My car crashes into the wall of the track when my eyes drift closed, and I concentrate to get myself back on track.

  Talon sighs, sounding frustrated. "It was horrible. The Alpha decided to skip out on the meeting, instead running off to go do something reckless. He didn’t come back until we were just leaving, and was carrying the body of the wolf who attacked Blaine. He threw the wolf at our feet, as if he were boasting about killing him. Lincoln was covered in blood, cuts, and scratches, and he seemed far too proud of his stupidity."