Fire in the Smokies

Epilogue

Brianna stared at her computer screen, not seeing a word. Her mind wandered to the last few weeks. She had settled into a routine. Jaxon hadn’t wasted any time moving her into his wing of the house. She didn’t really have much in her meager apartment to begin with. Between teaching wildfire classes and taking her own online courses, she’d been stretched thin financially. Without the responsibility of rent, she could worry less and concentrate more on her goals.

She didn’t like it at first, Jaxon helping her out so much, but she’d had to relax and focus on more important issues.

Juliana was an angel. The woman made her feel more welcome than Brianna could have imagined. Juliana was fighting her own battle against Sergius to gain more freedom. She wanted to lead more group hikes and work more hours than he was willing to consent to. “Safety” was a word both women cringed over several times a day. It gave them a camaraderie and something to talk about as they got to know each other.

It wasn’t that the men were being unreasonable. There was, after all, an unknown entity in the way of a very angry vampire out there somewhere. Both women were leery about his presence. However, they were also strong-willed individuals who wanted to lead their lives. The push and shove between the men and women followed a very fine line.

“You okay, Bri?”

Brianna startled at the sound of Jaxon’s voice behind her. She twisted from her spot in front of her computer and found Jaxon sauntering toward her. Every time she laid eyes on him, he still made her squirm. She must have been truly lost in thought to have not sensed his presence.

“Just thinking.” She reached for him and wrapped her arms around his waist when he got close enough. His warmth comforted her.

“Good thoughts, I hope?” Jaxon gripped her shoulders from above and massaged.

Brianna moaned. She hadn’t realized she’d been so tense. “Piecing together the last few weeks. I can’t believe it’s been only fourteen days since we met. Seems like forever. My life is completely transformed.” She angled her face up toward him.

“Mine too, baby.”

She inhaled long and slow and released her breath on a sigh. “How long did you say this mating frenzy thing would last? I can’t concentrate.” She gripped him around the waist tighter, pressing her cheek into his stomach and inhaling his scent. She had the urge to pop the button of his jeans with her teeth and tug the zipper down. “I can’t study when you are around,” she mumbled into his shirt.

“And I’m not helping matters, am I?”

“Nope.”

“Maybe if we…”

“Don’t even say the words out loud, Jax.” Brianna released her hold on him and pushed his body away from her. “I need to study.”

“It didn’t look like you were studying when I came in.”

“Yeah, well, I should have been. I’m behind.”

Jaxon’s fingers still lingered on her neck.

“Give me half an hour and then I’m all yours.”

His eyebrows rose along with the smile that spread across his face. “Promise?”

“Would it matter?”

“Not really, but I love it when you’re eager and willing. I always feel a bit guilty when I lure you away from your work with only carnal intentions.”

“Sure you do.” She peeled his hands from her neck and leaned back. “Thirty minutes and then I’m yours.”

Jaxon took her cheeks in both hands and leaned in for a kiss. “I’ll be back,” he mumbled against her mouth. “Half an hour.” His promise lingered in the air as he padded from the room.

Brianna stared at his back. There was no way she was going to be able to study, but she just smiled. Perhaps instead she could use the time to dream up a way to make him burn as much as she was right now…

Keeton McKinney awoke in his apartment with a start and bolted upright before immediately collapsing back onto his bed.

“Motherfucker that hurts.” He gripped his chest where it still ached from the worst wound he’d ever experienced.

He glanced at the clock. It was the middle of the night. How long had he been lying here? Thirteen? Fourteen days? He needed to feed. Every time he awoke he relived that day in his mind.

Once he’d managed to unpin himself from that goddamn iron stake, he’d hobbled deep into the forest and gotten as far away from the cave as possible before slumping onto the ground and resting when he couldn’t go another step.

Then the rain had fallen, large welcome drops drenching him, rinsing away the blood and dirt that had accumulated all over his body. The other benefit of the downpour was to mask his scent. He was much harder to track in a deluge. Of course the wolves were too, but he didn’t have the energy to track a flea after the beating he’d taken.

If he hadn’t been so pissed and sore, he’d have laughed.

The audacity of that wolf to think he could kill Keeton with a rusty metal stake? Ha.

But, damnit, the pain had been intense.

Keeton was even angrier with himself than Jaxon. Why had Keeton been such an easy target? It had seemed so cut and dry when he’d planned and executed this murder. He hadn’t been thinking clearly. It should have occurred to him that Jaxon could shift and escape. You can’t just tie a large wolf up with a knot and expect him to stare at it when all he had to do was shift and untie himself. Even two weeks later he was still kicking himself in the ass for his own stupidity.

It seemed the effort to mask the wolf’s ability to communicate for an extended time at long distances had rendered Keeton’s judgment a bit lax. His focus on his prey had kept him from thinking things through clearly. He would have to work on that before he struck again.

It was wonderful he was able to block telepathy. Perhaps there were other abilities he could tap into of which he was as yet unaware. In which case, he really needed to be able to make sound decisions simultaneously. Unlike that day. The blocking must have drained him and left him vulnerable.

Obviously, judging by Jaxon’s flight from the scene, those wolves had no idea how to kill a vampire. That information would come in very handy in the future. Unless… Keeton had been incoherent for a while before he’d regained consciousness. It could be that Jaxon simply fled for his life, not caring whether or not Keeton was actually dead. Who knew?

Hell, if it hadn’t been for the massive fire in Chicago in the late 1800s, even Keeton himself wouldn’t have known how to kill a vampire. He’d unexpectedly been in the right spot at the right time and that information had changed his life.

There was nothing more to do but wait and regenerate. It would take months for Keeton to be back in full force.

Meanwhile, he would plot. Because those wolves had pissed him off for the last time. Their days were numbered. And he wasn’t going to be nice about it anymore. Their deaths were going to be cruel, ugly and messy.

Keeton tried to relax into the mattress. His chest pounded with the pain of regenerating tissues. He closed his eyes. He needed more sleep. He needed to feed. In that order. And then…he needed a plan.