His Dark Embrace

by Verika Sloane

  He waited for her at the park by their tree the following night, duffel bag in hand, stuffed with cash he’d kept in his safe at home. An amount he hadn’t bothered counting, just filling the bag until it was full.

  She said only a fraction was necessary, but he wanted her to take it all.

  His cell phone alerted him of a text, and he frowned.

  Amara wanted to meet with him as soon as possible. It’s important, she’d finished her message with.

  Not so important it couldn’t wait. He closed the message and tucked his phone in his pocket.

  “Hi.”

  He turned around at Kimber’s voice.

  Circles under her beautiful eyes, the fatigue and lack of usual brightness in her sensa nearly had him going to his knees. He’d rather bleed out than see her like this.

  Oh sweetheart, you didn’t get much sleep either.

  “That’s way too much money,” she said sadly.

  “Take it.” He set the duffel down. “Let’s go to the house and talk.”

  She flinched as if the thought of being alone with him pained her. “I have to get back.”

  But…they only had a few days left. “Will I see you tomorrow, then?”

  “Maybe. I don’t know.”

  A dread struck him sick. “The day after tomorrow?” A half-plea, half-desperate question.

  “God, Shain. What for?”

  What? No, no, no. Was she ready to say goodbye now? Because he wasn’t. They couldn’t. Not like this. He craved one more perfect night together, and he was determined to have it. “Please, Kimber.”

  She finally met his eyes. “Why? Why torture ourselves?”

  He’d asked her the same question weeks ago. Why indeed? “Because I don’t want our last moments to be me handing you a bag of money in the park. I…I need you.” The last words were ripped from his soul. “I need to hold you in my arms all night. For the last time.”

  Don’t you need that, too?

  Maybe she didn’t. Maybe she was stronger than him.

  Shit. There was no maybe about it. She was stronger. A stunning, bright, courageous shiya. And now look at what being with him did to her. His darkness had infected her light.

  Eventually, to his vast and selfish relief, she nodded. “Okay. Thursday. We’re leaving at daybreak on Saturday, so Friday won’t work now.”

  He’d take it. “As soon as you can get away, meet me there. I’ll be at the house the night before to wait for you.” He yearned to touch her so much his hands shook. Unable to help himself, he came toward her, and tilted her face up. “Until then…”

  He kissed her softly and she let out a small sound of agony.

  It slayed him. Even his kiss brought her sorrow?

  He touched his forehead to hers. “Want me to wear the tracksuit?”

  She gave a watery laugh.

  Yes.

  That was what he needed to hear. Her laugh.

  What he needed to see. Her smile.

  For a while, they stood like that, him thumbing every hot tear streaming from her eyes, until she pulled away, like how a dream pulled away when one awoke. “Kimber—”

  “Do you regret taking that walk at Avery’s?”

  How could she ask him that? Remind him of his cruel words? His eyes filled. “I’ll eternally thank all nine gods I took it.”

  She picked up the duffel bag with a small smile.

  “Do you regret taking that midnight swim on private property?” he asked.

  Walking backwards, she cocked her head. “Why would anyone ever regret the day they were reborn?”

  Gods, he loved her. Shain bowed his head, squeezing his eyes shut against the devastation. Something in him roared to go after her.

  But he did not.

  If he was ever going to let her go, he had to begin now or he never would.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  The townhouse buzzed with her sisters packing up their belongings, putting untouched food in a box to be given to the local shelter, chatting about their mates, things they looked forward to, how much they missed their babies.

  Kimber heard them exclaiming about their collective success in finding over twenty shiyas, who were still interested in joining the pack, out of the fifty that’d come to the party. Who they liked, who were not so well-liked, and who they hoped would end up staying permanently to make a home with the Glacier Wolf Pack. Twenty-plus was a healthy number to be proud of.

  Kimber sat outside on the deck, staring at nothing, wrapped in an old plaid blanket.

  Waiting for her blackmailer.

  Ever since the morning she told them about Jackson’s duplicitous date, her sisters had kept their distance. They’d been on a few activities as a group, but they treated her like the outsider she’d always been, with polite indifference.

  Everyone was returning to Tavish the same.

  Except her. She was forever changed.

  Though it appeared otherwise, Kimber looked forward to going home, too. Familiarity was always a comfort. To be back in her little house, unrestricted, free to go anywhere, drive her old truck, see her friends.

  How strange. Home felt like another era, like she’d be going back in time.

  Nya alerted her someone was walking up the driveway toward the backyard.

  The alpha.

  She unfolded from her comfortable position, tucked her cell in her front pocket, and went down the deck steps before he could come up.

  So she could look down at him.

  He rested his hands on his hips, setting a foot on the second step. He began his gaze at her shoes and traveled up, inhaling with his perusal. “Something different about you.”

  Funny how he would say that. There was nothing different about her appearance, but evidently her “scent” wasn’t the same. Beth had mentioned that yesterday.

  She’d changed in more ways than a dozen.

  But who cared?

  Kimber said nothing, continuing to stare him down.

  His eyes narrowed briefly before he shook his head and reached in his back pocket for a piece of paper. He held it up. “Routing and account number. I’ll stay right here until I get a notification the money’s been sent.”

  The balls on this alpha. She took the paper, looked at it, and waited an excruciatingly long time before she informed him how things were really going to go. “I’m not wiring you any money. I won’t be blackmailed by a two-faced scumbag disguised as an alpha.”

  His eyes glowed with rage. “Watch yourself, shiya.”

  “Or what?”

  “I’ll tell everyone—”

  “My secret, yadda yadda. Thing is…” She shrugged and scrunched her face, shoving the paper in her back pocket. “I really don’t give one shit, let alone one hundred thousand dollars.”

  He huffed at her gall. “You will, once every shifter from here to your pathetic pack finds out you’ve been meeting with a vampire.”

  “You have nothing to show for it.”

  “I have the word of an alpha. And maybe a video?” Next, he drew out his cell phone, opened the app, and showed her a video of her and Shain talking and then embracing in the alley, though he’d caught no audio since it was taken from at least two stories above. The video ended when Shain left her standing there, and she turned to text Lucinda.

  He did have more than just his word. She’d assumed so. “Not impressed. You’ll have to show me what else you have for the kind of money you’re blackmailing me for.”

  Jackson’s wolf snarled at Nya, who sat haughtily unaffected.

  The alpha’s nostrils flared. “That’s all I need, freak. My word, my position, and my video.”

  She arched a brow. How she wished she could warn the women of the shifter world about this piece of shit. Time for one last appeal.

  Pointless? Likely. But she had to do it.

  “Think about it for a minute,” she said, as he groaned with impatience. “Your reputation. From what I saw, you’re idolized in your community. People actual
ly believe you’re a good man, or at least respect you as an alpha. Even if my pack believes your nonsense, they won’t respect how you exploited a fellow shifter for monetary gain, and it’ll be known what you did. How you tried to blackmail her into sending pack funds under threat. Don’t assume for a second I won’t tell them that you admitted to having the townhouse surveilled from our first week here, or that you called them country-ass cunts with no brains. I’ll. Tell. Them. Everything.”

  Teeth gnashing, he started to come up when she warned him, “Get any closer and I’ll fucking scream.”

  He stepped back down. “You don’t know who you’re messing with, Kimber. Wire me the money right now or be exposed for the scandal that would guarantee your death.”

  She raised her nose higher and looked down at him from beneath lowered lids. “I refuse to give you one penny of Glacier Wolf Pack funds. I’d rather die than betray them.”

  Jackson, seemingly stupefied by her stubbornness—or courage—blinked a few times. Then he gave an evil chuckle, shaking his head, wagging his finger. “So be it, bitch. So be it.”

  The back door opened. “Kimber?”

  She turned her head to her shoulder at Claudine, who stood in the doorway with a steaming plate of chicken pot pie. “What is it?”

  “Dinner’s ready. I thought I’d join you out here since it’s such a nice night. I’ve got some news.” She stretched her neck. “Who are you talking to?”

  Kimber faced Jackson again. Only he’d slithered away like the snake he was.

  Well, not that there was much else that needed to be said, anyway.

  “No one.” She sighed and stepped back to the deck, giving Claudine a grateful smile, accepting the paper plate of food. “Thanks. Smells good.”

  “You’re welcome. We were just talking about how much our mates are champing at the bit for us to get back and it got me thinking.”

  Kimber took her seat. “About what?”

  “Getting you good and mated. Beth and I are determined.”

  She sliced a bite, suddenly losing her hunger. “That’s a lost cause.” So very lost. Especially if Jackson followed through with his threat.

  Claudine’s shoulders slumped as she sat down. “It’s obvious you’re as homesick as we are. I don’t think any of us realized how much you would be. You look so miserable.”

  A misery that had nothing to do with missing home. “I am,” she admitted.

  “What’s making it worse is that we’re going on and on about our families and you don’t have one of your own yet.”

  She took a bite. “The entire pack is my family.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “I do. I’ll have my own family when I’m meant to.” But not with my true mate. Grief filled her mouth, making her food tasteless.

  “Amos says a few new men have joined the pack.”

  “More men? We have enough of them as it is.”

  “Good stock, he says. A couple of them are eager to meet you. Especially this Hudson guy. He saw a picture of you in one of Patty’s many albums and has already claimed to the others to back off.” She giggled, reaching for her glass of milk. “So, cheer up. You have someone waiting at home for you, too.”

  A man who wasn’t her mate, so what was there to cheer?

  Still, her sister only wanted to lift her spirits.

  She forced a smile that was somewhat genuine.

  Just the thought of another man kissing her lips, whispering in her ear, claiming her body, made her want to throw up her pot pie.

  How long would that go on? What if it was for the rest of her life?

  Traditionally, a shiya didn’t have to find another mate if her true had been found and lost. But her pack would never know she’d found her mate, and so they could still force her to choose one someday. Another reason she had to separate herself from them.

  Tomorrow would be the last night with Shain. The last of everything with him. She initially thought it was a bad idea, but thank God she agreed to see him.

  It couldn’t be any more painful to say goodbye to the man she loved.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Shain gulped his glass of freshly warmed blood to the last drop.

  The cravings were getting worse, not better.

  He was concerned. Very concerned.

  And he didn’t know who to turn to about it.

  Every vampire was born with insatiable hunger, one that parents were responsible for taming, to guide them how to manage it, like one managed an addiction. It took years to achieve only needing to bloodfeed every two weeks, with energy taking, sex, and real food filling in the gap.

  But his control slipped away a little every day.

  He was returning to a vampire’s most raw, ravenous level of craving. His teeth constantly sharp, reminding him, his body heat high, never cooling, the hunger so great he had to fight just to pass a human without his teeth in their necks.

  Dropping his head back, he closed his eyes and swallowed.

  The symptoms slowly, blessedly, simmered down to a manageable level again.

  His mouth dropped open in relief, a little excess blood escaping down his chin. He inhaled, feeling okay again. At last.

  Revived, he wiped the excess, licked it, then rushed to the kitchen sink to wash the glass.

  He took another shower and rinsed out his mouth twice with mouthwash. He didn’t want any evidence of blood around for Kimber to scent.

  The house was clean to an inch. There was food and drink in the new fridge he’d hooked up.

  Wine. Fresh sheets. Firewood. Her preferred ale. A portable speaker for music.

  There was nothing left except for Kimber to arrive.

  When he heard a car pulling closer to the house, he smiled, going to the front door and opening it, unable to wait another second for her to come to him—

  It wasn’t Kimber coming out of the Mercedes-Benz.

  It was Amara.

  Gods, no. How had she found him?

  He didn’t care. All that mattered was getting her the hell away from here.

  He met her at her car. “What are you doing here?”

  Smug, she bumped the car door with her hip to close it. He noticed she wore a dress he’d once told her was a favorite: green like her eyes, made of silk. The woman was pulling out all the stops. “I told you it was important,” she said.

  “What was so important it couldn’t wait until tomorrow night? I told you we could meet then.”

  “I needed to see you today. Not tomorrow.”

  “How the hell did you find me?”

  “I followed you yesterday.” She looked around the property, raising a judgmental brow, trying to see the desirability of it, but evidently unable to. “Is this where you meet her? In this godforsaken place? Is hillbilly romance her idea or yours?”

  Amara’s presence tainted the ground where she stood. He prayed to the gods Kimber wasn’t close. If she showed up, and Amara laid eyes on her, it’d destroy their fragile plan.

  What did Amara need to hear from him to go away?

  He couldn’t lie; she’d know it. He couldn’t make demands; she’d only grind her six-inch heels in deeper.

  “Shain,” she said, her voice suddenly soft and sweet. “I love you.”

  Loved him? She didn’t know what love was.

  Though annoyed at her for using such beautiful words to manipulate him, he made sure not to lash out, and matched her tone to keep things from escalating.

  “You do?” he asked.

  She nodded, pressing her lips together. “I’m sorry it took me so long to say so. I guess I always assumed you knew. I’m…” She cast her black lashes down. “I’m not very good at expressing my emotions. Isn’t that sad? A vampiress who can’t tell the man she loves how she feels? I’m sure Ilous is disappointed in me, and therefore punishing me.”

  Apparently, she thought telling him that, and showcasing remorse would lure him back. Though he couldn’t lie and tell her he loved her in ret
urn, Shain groped for what to say so she’d leave. He pitied her. “I’m sorry I was so cold to you the other night.”

  “It’s okay.” She kept her voice passive and delicate, while he knew she was anything but those things. “I realize I’d have to earn you again, Shain. I don’t expect you to come into my arms right away.” Her eyes raised to his. “All I want to know is if there’s a chance that you’ll let me try to win you back.”

  No. Hell no. Eternally no. “There’s always a chance.” A less-than-one-percent chance, but she didn’t have to know that.

  She watched him like a hawk, then glanced past him. “Is she inside?”

  “Listen, I was just about to leave.” A lie.

  “She’s not here?”

  “No.” The truth.

  A scrutiny in her eyes sent him a warning. “I have no chance, do I?”

  “Yes.” Another lie.

  “Really?”

  “This affair between her and I isn’t going to last.” Another truth.

  Why wasn’t it going to last?

  Because he and Kimber would no longer carry on an affair, they were going to be more. Much more. His plan was insane, dangerous, and doomed, but they had to try for as long as they could. There was no other option.

  He was bursting to tell his shiya his idea. Hopefully, she’d agree to stay with him. For the past two days, he’d been working on it, ignoring all other calls, all requests for meetings, obsessed with every detail until his plan was doable. Believable.

  For so long, he said there was no way they could be together, but now, there was no way he could go on without Kimber.

  Amara turned the black cocktail ring, her sensa confusing him with its uneasiness. “Can…can we be friends in the meantime?”

  Her question snapped him out of his thoughts. “We were never enemies, Amara.”

  She floated toward him with a little smile. “Hasanan. That’ll do for now.”

  He resisted letting her get close to him, but perhaps if he embraced her, she’d leave. And if she didn’t, he’d leave, send Kimber a text to discern if she was on her way, and make sure Amara was far, far away before he turned around.

  He lightly wrapped his arms around her, going to press a kiss on her sculpted cheek.