“My wolf.”
“Aye, lass.”
“Connor?”
A chuckle followed by a nip of my earlobe. “Aye, lass.”
“Where am I?”
Feel so lost and oh so good.
“Right where you need to be.”
The power of the wolf pack surrounded me, a liquid river of warmth buoying me high above the turbulence of the world spinning around me, below me. Inside me. Somewhere on the dance floor, our bodies moved in time to the relentless beat. DJ Milo was on. Was it midnight already? How long had I been out here, lost in the crush and sway of bodies, lost among the wolves?
My wolves.
I don’t know how it happened or why, but they were mine, as sure as I was a Tranquilli, a half-breed vampire princess. A chosen one with an apocalypse or two to avert. Somehow, in the taking of the alpha’s blood, I tied him to me. Marked him as mine. Or maybe, they marked me as theirs. Was there a difference? I couldn’t see the line, neither the beginning nor its end. My mind swam in circles, both rapid and lazy, thoughts cascading down like a meteor shower, while I floated through it all.
Fin’s dark chuckle roamed through my mind.
You have so much to learn, Rina. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Or try to stop you. And yes, you did mark them. But don’t worry, we can sort that out when you come down from your high.
His
told you so
tickled my head, lacking heat and conveying his amusement at my plight. He’d drunk the magic Kool-Aid too. He was somewhere, everywhere, flying high with me.
“I’m right here.” A body pressed against my back. Lean muscle, familiar scent. Fin.
I tilted my head, and he brushed aside my hair to press a kiss against the sensitized skin of my neck. His touch sent zings of pleasure down my spine and spun the room again. Ha, correction, I was the one whirling both inside and out.
“Enjoying yourself, little vampire?” Connor’s bemused tone brought an answering smile to my lips as he crowded me from the front. Behind me, Fin kept a light grip on my hips, and the three of us grooved to Milo’s current killer track. My mind and spirit soared as the deep, throbbing bass ping-ponged through my body.
A jasmine scent tickled my nose, then the wolf woman danced up to me. Her yellow eyes glowed like mini suns. I watched in fascination as she sank her hands into my hair and massaged my scalp. God, that felt so good. My bones melted to rubber, but Connor caught me before I turned into a puddle on the dance floor. With my cheek pressed to his chest, I smiled my thanks at the woman for the sensory fun. She stayed with our little group, and we swayed together to the beat.
Under my ear, laughter rumbled in Connor’s chest. “Show time,” he said.
Show? I didn’t have any acts scheduled, what was he—?
His hand grasped my chin, and he raised my head. I fell into his sun yellow eyes, bright and soothing like a warm, sunny day. A field of sunflowers. I breathed in his scent—pine trees and mountains—sampled the whiskey and ale on his tongue. Wait…tongue?
Warm lips, hard mouth, demanding kiss. His tongue plundered, explored. My legs buckled, but Connor held me up
.
Fangs met fangs. I cut his mouth and the wolf blood flowed, pulling me further into its vortex of pleasure. A moan escaped me. Best high ever.
The wolves around me howled, their primal call blending in seamless perfection with the music, making me want to howl. Strip naked. Dance under the moonlight, then run through the trees with the pack…
A wave of power bowled into us. Electric. White hot. Painful. The blanket of wolf’s blood magic shattered like glass. Connor broke our kiss as I cried out.
I knew that power and my own responded to that enraged call. The call from my fated mate.
The dancers dispersed, while wolves and vampires formed two distinct sides with me, Connor and Fin in the middle. Alexander stalked forward, his lean muscled body dressed to kill in black jeans and T-shirt, black leather jacket; his lush hair a tousled mess of sexy goodness, his eyes blazing with heat.
He was beautiful in his rage. Everything in me wanted to run to him, jump into his arms, let our power dance together, our lips touch, our bodies entwine. Our souls reunite. But I stood my ground with Connor’s arm around my shoulders and Fin’s hand in mine. My head still spun from the wild wolf’s blood ride, not quite over, but now every cell buzzed for only one thing. Only one man.
“Alexander.” My voice broke on a sob.
At the sound of my distress, Connor’s hold tightened on my shoulders.
Fin squeezed my hand.
He betrayed you, Rina. Not the other way around. Remember that.
Alexander shot forward the last several feet in vampire hyper speed and snarled, fangs huge and bared, eyes vampire black and flashing with a murderous ferocity I’d never before seen in him.
Honestly? It was a good look for him. And the fact I still thought him gorgeous, that despite everything he’d done to hurt me with that blasted vampire cougar, I wanted him and wanted him to want me, all of that brought my anger back to the forefront. As Fin has so aptly pointed out, Alexander betrayed
me.
Rejected
me.
He had no claim here, no claim at all.
I gave him a cold look. “What do you want?”
Alexander focused on his cousin, on the man’s arm around my waist, on the way I leaned into him. “Walk away now, Connor,” Alexander growled.
Connor snorted. “Or what, cousin? You’ll bite me with your itty bitty vampire teeth?”
Hoots of laughter erupted from the wolves in the house, lined up behind us. The vampires, on the other side, were less amused. Mounting tension sizzled the air.
Alexander broke into a torrent of Gaelic.
Connor replied, pulling me tighter against his side.
I glanced at Fin.
Are we in trouble here?
He shook his head.
Not yet.
Great. That’s so reassuring. What are they saying?
Well, love, as you can see Alex is quite upset. ‘You let her drink your blood? You dare touch her?’ And Connor, ha, just insulted Alex’s manhood and told him to shove his little, you know, up his
…
Fin grinned.
It’s a pissing contest, my darling, and you are the prize.
His amused chuckle ricocheted around my head, a pleasing press of sensation, making me shudder. God, did everything have to feel so good right now? No doubt about it. Wolf’s blood was one powerful psychedelic.
Good grief, Fin, I’m buzzing like a nuclear-powered bee on E. When will I come down from this high?
It varies from vampire to vampire. You, as a half-breed
…
could take a while.
Lovely.
Oh shit,
Fin cursed, startling me.
Connor shoved me into Fin’s arms, and the vampire whisked me several feet away as Alexander tackled his cousin and started to brawl, the good old-fashioned, human way.
Fists met flesh. Repeatedly.
I toyed with the idea of stopping them but decided against it. The vindictive part of me reveled in Alexander getting a beating as payback for hurting me. The part of me that cared, the side I so wished didn’t care, wanted to order Primo and his brothers to end this mess before Alexander got hurt.
I glanced around. Mark and Ren watched from the door, Adrian, Jonas, and Thomas from the balcony. Stella and her boys hovered on the stage, along with Gen, Milo, and Claire at the DJ station. The vampire and wolf crowd on the dance floor watched in happy, entertained silence until Connor clocked Alexander so hard he smashed into Cam.
Alexander jumped up, shook his head like a wet dog, and yelled at his cousin Cam. “And where were you, you bastard? Why didn’t
you
stop him?” Then he smashed a fist right into the big man’s face.
The entire wolf pack pounced.
“And cue the vampires,” Fin observed then whisked me onto the stage.
Primo and his brothers jumped into the fray in a blur of motion, a violent ballet set to dance music. It was like watching an action movie on fast-forward, almost beautiful in its poetic violence—but perhaps that was the wolf’s blood in my system talking.
Stella and her biker boys took up residence near me and Fin, while Gen and Claire rushed over and enveloped me in hugs.
Gen brushed the hair from my face. “You okay?” She glanced down at the fight. “I’d kick Alexander’s ass myself for what he did to you, if that damn fine specimen of hulking Highlander wasn’t already doing such a bang up job of it.”
Claire stared at my eyes. “Girl, your eyes are black from corner to corner and there’s like a million stars in there. That’s the coolest fucking thing I’ve ever seen.” She ran a hand along my bare arm, making me shudder. God, that felt good.
A knowing grin cracked her pretty face. She hustled back to the DJ platform, pantomimed at Milo—who was still spinning the tunes—then caught something he tossed down to her.
She jogged over and stopped in front of me. “Open.” A rustle of paper, then she plopped a lollipop in my mouth.
“Oh my God,” I mumbled around the sugary goodness. Cherry Tootsie Pop. My favorite. Never tasted as good as it did right now. My eyes met the inside of my skull, and I swayed.
Gen wrapped an arm around my waist, steadying me. “Whatever you’re on, Rina, sign me up for some of that.”
Fin draped an arm over my shoulders. “Sorry, love, but wolf’s blood only works like this on vampires.”
“Wolf’s blood?” Gen and Claire exclaimed.
I shot them a sheepish look and plucked the cherry goodness from my mouth. “Oops?”
They laughed, then collapsed to the floor in a surprised heap as a sudden surge of power swept over the room, toppling everyone except me, Fin, and Stella on stage, and Connor and Cam on the dance floor. Electric power. Strong. Not to be denied.
“Thomas,” I said, just as Fin said, “Jonas.”
We were both correct. The two men in question stood before the stage. One by one the vampires surged to their feet and bowed to the two scariest vampires on the planet.
The wolves didn’t bow. They rose and stood behind Connor, their alpha.
Alexander shot to his feet directly in front of Jonas and Thomas, his head swiveling fast as he searched high and low for…me. I almost stumbled backward when his gaze locked with mine. His power hit me square in the chest, spreading out like a liquid hand, seeking mine and damn it, my power responded, braiding with his, tighter and tighter until my feet shuffled forward and I stood on the very edge of the stage.
Come to me,
his power called.
You’re mine.
Fin pulled the lollipop from my mouth. “My turn for some show time,” he murmured and kissed me.
His touch broke the bond to Alexander, snapping it like a taut wire. It wriggled and stung my chest. I cried out against Fin’s lips, from both physical and emotional pain. I didn’t want Fin. I wanted Alexander’s mouth crushing mine, Alexander’s hands fisting my hair, pulling me close. But he’d made his choice and no way in hell could he have his cougar cake and me too.
Fin ended our kiss and purred in my head.
Bloody good show, love. Shall we go again? Make the most of what’s left of the wolf blood high?
I ignored him, my attention on Alexander and the look of disgust and disappointment on his face. Bloodied and bruised and angry at me, his lips curled in a snarl. He gave me a ‘
we’re done’
look then pivoted and stalked to the exit.
I hopped off the stage with vampire grace and sped after him, catching him at the very spot where I met his cousin. Felt like a lifetime ago already. Mark and Ren still manned the door. A line of curious creatures waited outside, but my boys had stopped allowing anyone to enter. My guys wore twin ‘
we want to kick Alexander’s
ass’
scowls.
I caught Alexander’s arm and whipped him around. “Oh no you don’t.” I poked him on the chest, hard. “You don’t get to be the injured party here.
You
stepped out on
me.
You kissed that, that, skanky old cougar, took her out, danced with her. I saw it. I saw it all.” Tears burned my eyes, threatening to fall. “You ruined everything,” I whispered, my voice a raw rasp.
“Fuck.” Alexander ran his hands through his hair, making it wilder than usual, making me want to fist it myself and drag his damn head down and kiss the ever loving hell out of him, split lip, bruised face, bloody nose, and all.
I ground my teeth. No, no, no. Stop thinking like that.
“It’s not what you think.” His black vampire eyes melted to their sexy, smoky blue, lost puppy dog eyes pleading with me.
I blinked, felt my eyes respond in kind, as my wolf’s blood high ratcheted downward a notch. My anger, however, was a different story. “It’s not what I think?
I’ll text you
.
You
said that. After everything we—” My voice cracked. I couldn’t do this. I put every speck of anger into my arms. “Get out,” I shouted and shoved him.
He didn’t resist my blow and it threw him to the door, though he landed on his feet, agile as a cat. Damn the man.
He ran his hand over his jaw and mouth, wiping away blood, his split lip and smooshed nose already healed. He looked at me then past me. I knew from his expression he was chatting with Thomas and-or Jonas. I expected that. He couldn’t just show up without having words with my overprotective family. But I didn’t expect his next move.
He shot forward, gathered me in his arms, and whisked me from the club.
Alexander plastered me against the side of his car and slanted his lips over mine. Time stopped. My fucking heart stopped, then thundered so loud in my ears I thought the world exploded around us. This is what I’d missed, what I craved. This man, these lips. I groaned. His tongue swept over my lips demanding entrance and I caved, allowing him in. He growled, a hungry, sexy as sin growl as his tongue plundered my mouth, taking, tasting, demanding ownership all over again.