Vampire Mine

Chapter Two

You’re such an idiot. Leigh tried not to panic as she yanked her arm from Nathan’s grasp and rushed across the room he’d brought her to. What did you think would happen? That they’d sit down and listen to what you had to say over a nice cup of tea? They’re werewolves! Not people.

The way he’d touched her said it all. The delusional man thought she was his mate.

Like hell.

It didn’t matter that she was attracted to Nathan. It also didn’t matter that she’d had numerous fantasies about him since their first meeting. The man looked like a freaking Adonis—all muscles, tanned skin, perfect features and big brown eyes. She’d have to be really dead not to notice how good he looked. Her fascination was physical, nothing more. Emotional stuff was something else entirely. She’d sworn she’d never give her heart to another man.

How could she when it belonged to someone else?

Brett might not know she was alive but that hardly mattered. As long as she lived she couldn’t betray him. They’d vowed to love each other no matter what. Even if she couldn’t go to her childhood sweetheart and tell him what she’d become, she was determined to uphold her end of the promise. It was her fault she’d gone out on an errand too late one night and had ended up in the path of a crazy vampire who’d destroyed everything innocent about her and ruined her life.

“No you don’t,” Nathan chided.

A step to the side to avoid him didn’t work, her freedom short-lived. Whatever had happened to him earlier no longer affected his strength and coordination. He slid his big arms around her waist and tugged her toward his chest. His smell swamped her—so clean, so tempting.

“You’re so weak you can hardly stand,” he murmured. “That won’t do.”

She fought her hunger as he palmed the back of her head and bent so his neck was directly in front of her mouth. His pulsing vein beckoned, so close she could almost feel the splash of his blood against her tongue. He’d taste spicy and sweet. She knew he would. Shaking the notion off, she shoved at his chest. Perhaps he didn’t care what would happen if she sank her teeth into his throat, but she did. Sadie’s current predicament painted a vivid picture. Even if he smelled like heaven—even if she wanted him like hell on fire—she couldn’t chance a taste.

“Stop crowding me.” Hearing the despair in her voice, she gritted her teeth and demanded, “Back off.”

“No.” The huge man met her determination with his own. “I won’t have you hurting. Especially when there’s no reason for it.” Nathan yanked her upward, lifting her feet off the ground. Her nose bumped his throat in the process, the aroma of his blood so strong she couldn’t see straight. “Take what you need from me, imp.”

For the first time in months her body responded to the closeness of a male. Her nipples hardened to points as a ripple of arousal rushed from her tummy to her sex. Her canines threatened to extend, her gums tingling and burning. The fantasies she’d had of him took over—of her lying beneath him, welcoming him into her body, begging him for more. Sweat coated his chest, allowing her fingers to glide over his pectoral muscles with ease.

Another man’s face flashed through her mind. He was nowhere near as big or handsome as the man holding her tight but he was beautiful in his own right.

Brett.

You’re forgetting him.

Her heart lodged in her throat and the burgeoning sense of hope in her chest shattered. She realized how quickly she’d let lust and hunger cloud her judgment. All it had taken was a lost moment with Nathan and she’d all but forgotten her promise.

No. No. No.

Her magic—although weak from her lack of nourishment—flared to life. Desperate, she sent a burst of pure energy shooting from her palm, hitting him directly in the center of his chest. If she hadn’t been mortified at the result, she’d have laughed. While the mild electrical current would have shocked the hell out of a human, it didn’t do squat to a werewolf. Her legs folded beneath her, no longer able to bear her weight. Thankfully her would-be meal rescued her, swooping down to catch her, lifting her as though she weighed no more than a bag of sand.

“This ends now.” While the statement was firm, there was so much concern in his voice it made her heart skip a beat. He strode toward an empty chair with purpose. “You will take from me, mate.” She shivered at how possessively he said the word, as though he’d finally been given leave to announce it to the world and he had no intention of taking his proclamation back. “It’s my right and privilege to care for you.” He gentled his tone, rubbing a hand down her back. She wondered if he sensed her feelings somehow. “Best you accept that. I’m not letting you go. The last couple of months have been hell.”

Days of worry, frayed nerves and lost sleep caught up with her, changing the flaring bit of tenderness toward Nathan to full-fledged resentment. The last couple of months had been hell? What did he know? He hadn’t watched his only friend slowly starve to death. Sadie had suffered horribly as she’d felt the effects of malnutrition, the muscles from her training becoming nothing more than skin and bone.

She kicked out with useless legs, scrounging up the last energy she had left. “You’ve suffered? What a crock! You have no idea what suffering is. Not a fricking clue.”

“Settle down,” he grumbled, taking an elbow to the gut with a soft grunt.

Like hell. “I don’t think so.”

The tighter he held her, the more she squirmed. She didn’t have the strength to get away but she wasn’t going to make things easy for him. When he gained the advantage and brought her mouth to his neck, holding her in place with a hand at the back of her head, she ground her teeth together. It was agony smelling his blood and knowing he’d put an end to her thirst, but she’d weathered worse. Hunger was something she’d learned to ignore and overcome. She didn’t have to drink blood all the time. In fact she could go weeks without it.

Hold strong. It’ll go away. It always does.

This time the reminder didn’t feel so reassuring. Nathan brought feelings she felt incredibly uncomfortable with to the surface. Not only did she want to sink her teeth into his throat to curb her appetite, she also wanted to hold him close and breathe him in. Her vampire nature—the thing she hated most—wanted her to lose control of her inhibitions and give herself to the man. To surrender to the desires she’d denied since her transformation.

Get hold of yourself. Sadie’s in trouble, remember?

“We’re wasting time,” she huffed, wriggling as much as she could.

“Then take what you need.” Nathan’s rebuke was firm, his grip unbreakable. “I’m not letting go until you do.”

“It’ll kill me.” She let her fangs drop but made sure her teeth remained clear of his skin, hoping that a half-truth might get his attention. With a tilt of her head, she met his amber gaze. “Is that what you want?”

He froze, staring her in the eye, the muscles in his arms like granite. “What are you talking about?”

Good. He was finally listening.

“Once a vampire drinks from a shifter they become bound to their blood. No other source will do. If something ever happens to you, I’ll starve to death. Rumor has it your pack is in the middle of a war. Force me to drink from you and I’ll be gambling with my life. If you go, I go. I’m not willing to take that risk. Now,” she tried to force her fangs to retract, hating the way her gums burned and itched, “back the hell off and give me some room.”

“I don’t believe you.”

One firm tug on her hair and she had to meet the werewolf’s intense gaze. Oh hell.

Three months ago she’d been able to walk away. No fuss, no muss. But now? His woodsy scent called to her, his face sexy and captivating. Her breath caught and her pussy flooded. Time had definitely worked in Nathan’s favor. No longer neat and tidy, his dark and unkempt head of hair went perfectly with the goatee he’d decided to grow, taking him from a man you introduced to Momma to the bad boy you welcomed each night through the bedroom window.

“Sadie,” she blurted, grappling to stay focused. Why was it so hard to think clearly? Why couldn’t she get her raging hormones under control? This wasn’t the time or place for her libido to kick into high gear.

“What about her?” Trey snarled.

Nathan’s fingers slipped from Leigh’s hair, allowing her to whip her head around and address the man who’d been listening to their conversation. A hot wave of embarrassment crept up her cheeks. Not only had Nathan gotten under her skin, the bastard had also lowered her guard. Anyone could have heard what she said, which could have been devastating not only to her but the coven.

“If she’s hurt, you’re the one to blame.” She tested Nathan’s grip, grateful to discover he’d decided to let her go. Sliding free from his embrace, she rushed to drive her point home. “As soon as she drank from you, she was doomed. She can’t feed from anyone else. That’s your fault.” Humiliation hit, an awareness that she’d caused her friend’s slow demise. Sadie had tried to warn her of the consequences but Leigh hadn’t listened. Instead she’d forced Sadie to drink from Trey, naïvely believing the asshole werewolf would do right by the woman who’d saved his life. “If I’d known how things were between you two, I wouldn’t have pushed the issue.”

“What are you talking about?” Trey snarled.

Nathan surged to his feet, taking a stance between Leigh and his Alpha. Another prickle of awareness made her lightheaded, a dizzying hum droning inside her skull. Trey had been unconscious when Sadie had taken his blood but Leigh had assumed he’d remember some small part of the encounter. Even though he’d been fully clothed, she’d seen the enormous tent in his pants. And the scent of his and Sadie’s combined lusts had stunk up the basement where he’d been held captive. Leigh had assumed he wanted Sadie as his lover and partner but after that night he hadn’t attempted to seek her out.

But what if he didn’t have memories of that night?

Was it possible he had no idea what he’d done?

Nathan hadn’t believed her when she’d told him how things worked when a vampire fed from a shifter. It was very possible Trey didn’t know he’d sentenced Sadie to a slow death after he’d given her his blood.

That changed things.

She studied Trey, watching his movements, relying on her instincts to gauge if he were being honest or avoiding the truth. “You don’t remember me, do you?” Considering he’d charged at her earlier, she’d thought he might. Now she wasn’t so sure.

“Should I?” A warning flashed through his eyes, the muscles in his jaw clenching.

Holy crap. Oh no. “Yes, you should.” She took a deep breath and slowly rose from her seat. Time to get answers. “Do you remember anything about the night we found you? Do you have any memories of what happened?”

“I know Sadie managed to get me out of the hands of Shepherds.” He balled his hands into fists and shifted his feet, his eyes glowing yellow. “I know she brought me home before she hit the road without so much as a goodbye or see you later. She left me high and dry. I couldn’t even thank her.”

For the first time in weeks, Leigh felt a pang of pity for the man.

He’d been unaware of the suffering he’d caused.

“It wasn’t easy to get you out,” she informed him softly, treading carefully into treacherous waters. “There were a lot of men to go through and we had to fight our way to the basement. Sadie got hurt.” Guilt assailed her when Trey’s tan face paled and his fingers unfurled. Struggling past her emotions, she continued, “Once we found you, we realized we’d have to carry you out, but we were so weak and tired… “

He’d seemed so large to Leigh back then, almost impossible to lift. Of course she was always weak since she refused to give her body what it needed to thrive. More shame and embarrassment struck. If only she’d taken more blood before she’d gone with Sadie—if only she’d given in to her thirst for once—things could have gone so differently.

“Tell me,” he ordered, the words a harsh rasp. “I have a right to know.”

“It came down to a decision,” she whispered, hating to be the bearer of bad news. “Drink from you or leave you to die.” Fear made her pause. Trey was barely holding it together. What would he do when he learned how much Sadie had endured once she’d left the only person she could feed from behind? “Once she’d taken what she needed, we managed to get you to the car and bring you home. Afterward she went to one of our healing caverns but by then the damage had been done.”

“Damage?”

Up until then, Leigh didn’t realize one word could convey someone’s absolute devastation. Trey’s reactions were totally honest, holding nothing back. He was prepared to listen to whatever she had to tell him, even if it destroyed him in the process. Her plan to storm into his home and put him in his place had drastically backfired. Although there was a chance he’d heard what she’d told Nathan, she decided to put everything out in the open.

No more secrets, to hell with misunderstandings.

“She started starving to death.” When his eyes bulged she hurried to finish. “She couldn’t drink from anyone else.”

“She what?”

“Vampires can’t drink from shifters. Something happens when we do. We become tied to the person we drink from.” She couldn’t mask her nervousness, not when she could feel Trey’s rage from across the room. “It makes it impossible to gain sustenance from any other source—from any other person.”

He took a step forward and Nathan countered the movement, standing directly in Trey’s path. She didn’t think she’d be thankful for Nathan’s interference but she released a shaky breath just the same, finding that she preferred having the imposing werewolf on her side.

“Where is she?” Trey sounded panicked but resolute. “Take me to her.”

Peering around her protector, she looked at the man who’d caused so much harm yet hadn’t known it. It was time to reveal her hand. She removed the pair of earrings she’d stolen from Sadie’s bedroom from her pocket. “I can do that but if she’s in trouble—and I think she is—I’ll need help.”

Approaching footsteps drew the attention of everyone in the room. Nathan thrust her behind him, hiding her with his much larger frame. She caught a glimpse of Trey rushing from the room, instructing over his shoulder, “Get her outside. I’ll come around and meet you. It’s not safe to talk here.”

Nathan didn’t argue, taking her by the elbow to guide her around a couch. She hadn’t noticed the door in the corner, too transfixed by Nathan and then Trey as they’d come at her like Mack trucks. As she stepped outside and breathed in the morning air, she said a small prayer of thanks.

Despite it all.

Even at her worst.

She managed not to cave to her thirst.

Thank heaven for small favors.

Her gaze swept over Nathan’s sublime body. There wasn’t a single inch of him covered in fat. Beneath the layers of clothing was a body gods would envy. Another tidal wave of lust surged through her, heating her in ways she’d thought she’d never experience after losing her mortality.

And she’d thought denying bloodlust was hard? So much for that.

Every minute in the man’s presence was going to be sheer torture.

* * * * *

Trey intercepted Cade before he could make it into the living room. His stomach had formed into a hard knot, anxiety making all of his senses sharp. His heart pounded in his chest, his skin itching as he restrained the animal inside him. The wolf had risen to the surface a long time ago, trying to fight its way free. The beast knew its mate was in trouble and wanted to bring its female home. It felt it alone could protect her, shelter her.

Nourish her.

The disgrace that swamped him made it difficult to breathe. He hadn’t seen Sadie for months. And in all that time she hadn’t been able to do the one thing that would give her life—the poor thing couldn’t fucking eat. As a male it was his duty to see to the needs of his mate and he’d failed at the most basic level.

Images from his dreams were like a sucker punch to the face.

Now he knew they weren’t dreams but memories. Everything that had happened—her fangs at his throat, the tiny pulls at his skin as she fed—had been real. He’d given her what she needed most only to rip it from her hands. Why hadn’t she come to him? Had her pride gotten in her way? Had facing starvation been preferable to coming face-to-face with him again?

He winced. It must have been.

He was aware he hadn’t been easy on her. He’d practically taken the gift she’d given him and thrown in back in her face. Vampires were dangerous to shifters, able to turn them into familiars with no free will. Despite that, he still wanted her.

Hell, how could he not?

The night he’d finally gotten hold of her, trapping her lithe body between his and the ground, he’d known they’d be perfect together. She’d been so hot, her pussy weeping for his touch. One kiss had set them on fire, turning the world upside down. He wanted to hammer into the softness of her cunt and hear her cries of pleasure. She’d been right there with him too, as caught up in the moment as he was.

Then he’d opened his mouth and fucked it all up.

After tonight, you’ll never see me again. You have my word.

He was so deep in thought he barreled right into Cade. The human grunted and shoved Trey to the side. “What the fuck? I thought you were leaving.”

Trey hurried to make an excuse—any excuse. Even if Caden wasn’t a shifter he had spot-on instincts. The man had been an investigator once upon a time. Years had honed his intuition, allowing him to detect skeletons in anyone’s closet.

“I forgot my wallet.”

“Uh-huh,” Cade responded and leaned against the closest wall. “Since when do you explain yourself to me?”

Fuck. “Since you’re playing secretary, it’s the least I can do.”

Cade brought a hand to his chin and stroked the scar marring his skin. His steely eyes saw far more than Trey liked. “Why do I smell bullshit?”

“Maybe you’ve been kissing too much ass?” The Alpha in him wouldn’t allow Trey to sever eye contact but he did move away from Cade, putting as much distance between them as possible. “Members of the pack could start arriving at any time. I suggest you get things ready.”

“What the fuck are you up to?”

That was typical Cade—brash, ballsy and arrogant as hell. Trey found the man’s bluntness refreshing, even if he’d never admit it to anyone in the pack. As an Alpha, it was rare that anyone would go tit for tat with him. However, Cade tended to overestimate his worth in the pack. While he was worth having around and had managed to get in the good graces of Diskant Black—the Omega and head of all the shifters of New York—he wasn’t above the rules.

This time Trey didn’t ask, he ordered, “Get ready to greet the pack.”

Even if Cade liked to push buttons, he’d been around long enough to know he’d have to answer to Diskant if he stepped out of line. And it wasn’t good to bother Diskant right now. His mate, Ava, was in the early stages of pregnancy but had finally started to show. Anything that tore the Omega’s focus from his female wasn’t welcomed.

“Whatever you say,” Cade drawled, each word laced with sarcasm. Despite his apparent annoyance he was smart enough to lower his gaze as he moved away from the wall and started walking toward the garage. “I live to serve.”

Trey waited for Cade to exit the residence, listening as the back door opened and slammed closed before he rushed from the hallway. Nathan couldn’t leave the property with Leigh on his arm. The guards would ask him too many questions. He wondered where he might find his Beta and unexpected guest as he ran to the small door that led to the back of the property. To his relief he spotted them as soon as he stepped outside. Nathan had taken Leigh to the side of the building, keeping her hidden among the bushes. The man had boxed her in the cage of his arms, standing protectively over her.

“Would you stop?” Leigh’s soft reprimand drifted to Trey’s ears. “I told you I’m fine.”

“Don’t lie,” Nathan growled. “Not to me.”

“Children,” Trey interrupted the two before their argument escalated and drew unwanted attention, keeping his voice low, “stop fighting.”

The instant Nathan lowered his guard, Leigh took advantage. She ducked under his arm, gaining her freedom. “It’s about time you joined us,” she hissed, tossing strands of her long, dark hair over her shoulder. “I was starting to think you’d changed your mind.”

He had to force the wolf back, struggling to whisper instead of howl. “No way in hell.” Looking past her, he started working out an exit strategy. His motorcycle only allowed room for two. They needed a vehicle. Unfortunately he wasn’t in a position to retrieve his keys and get to his car. “How did you get here?”

“I drove,” Leigh snapped, her blue eyes shooting daggers in his direction. “The car’s parked one street over.”

His gaze drifted to Nathan. “I’m going to distract the guards while you two slip out.”

Nathan nodded and wrapped his hand around Leigh’s wrist. “Hurry.”

Trey didn’t have to be told twice.

They were lucky to have gone undetected for as long as they had.

He strode purposefully toward the line of trees along the back of the property. Members of the pack rotated keeping guard, taking shifts that lasted anywhere from eight to twelve hours. Trey approved the schedule but didn’t go so far as to make it. As long as he had eyes on the place he didn’t care how the pecking order was decided. Movement caught his eye, a subtle shift of color that would go unrecognized by the human eye.

Bingo.

“It’s me,” he called out. “Reveal yourselves.”

One by one, they did.

He held his head high, approaching the wolves with total confidence.

Any display of weakness could create total chaos.

He stopped several feet away and called on his wolf. The beast responded, revealing as much of its power as Trey would allow it to. As he anticipated, the members of his pack immediately backed down. They lowered their gazes, taking on subservient stances.

This was it.

Showtime.