Authors: Katie Reus
of vehicles in the underground garage.
“Nice.” She slid into the passenger side
of an older model Mustang. At least they’d
be riding in style, though if she was
honest, she really liked his motorcycle.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket, and a
look at her phone made her wince. It was
her mother and way past the time she was
supposed to check in.
She might be an adult, but since she was
going on a date with a vampire that night,
she’d made sure her mother knew. That
conversation had been one big argument.
Of course she’d left out Kiernan’s name.
Her pack and his coven had a certain level
of animosity toward one another, due to
some feud from almost a century ago. It
was way before her time and she really
didn’t care what it was about. She might
not be completely sure about Kiernan’s
motives, but she knew he wouldn’t hurt
her. Not physically, at least. Instead of
answering, she rejected the call then typed
in a quick text telling her mother she was
fine but staying out the entire night. She
also entered their code word so her mom
knew it was her and not someone
pretending to use her phone.
The curt response she received told her
to call immediately. Melina slid her phone
into her pocket instead. After she helped
the kid at the shelter, she’d call. Until then
she didn’t want to deal with any other
distractions. Especially not when she had
a giant, very sexy one sitting right next to
her.
Chapter 4
Kiernan parked behind Helping Hands, the
shelter Melina directed him to. The
expansive two story building took up an
entire city block. This was the last place
he wanted to be. Out in the open, exposed.
He hated bringing her here, but he knew
when to pick his battles. The moment they
stepped out of the vehicle, he knew they
weren’t alone. Two distinctive heartbeats
were very close by. He heard others in the
vicinity but these two were very close.
Two teens, one black and one white,
stepped out from behind a Dumpster. Each
had a gun held loosely in his hand, and
from the bulge under one of the teens’ T-
shirts, Kiernan knew he was packing
more. Immediately he stepped in front of
Melina, blocking her body with his. As a
shifter she should be able to heal almost
as fast as him, but something about her had
been different after that car accident.
She’d been too weak, almost disoriented.
He bared his fangs at the two youths
before they even had time to raise their
weapons.
With wide eyes they stared at them. One
cleared his throat. “You’re Melina, right?
You’re here to help Raul?”
Melina peeked around Kiernan. “Yes.
Hand those weapons to my friend here and
you can come inside while I help Raul.”
For a moment it looked as if they might
argue, but after another look in Kiernan’s
direction, they did as she said. There were
certain laws in any jungle, even a concrete
one, and Kiernan could kill these two in
seconds whether they had weapons or not.
And they knew it.
Kiernan cleared his throat when they
only handed him the two visible guns.
“All of them.”
The white boy cursed but handed over
his other gun as the door flew open. A tall,
attractive blond woman Kiernan assumed
was Irene rushed out. She gave the boys a
quick glance before zeroing in on Melina
and Kiernan. She stopped short as she
looked at him. “Melina, who is this?”
“He’s okay.” Brushing past him, Melina
let her friend guide her inside into an
industrial-sized kitchen that smelled of
cleaning supplies and the faint aroma of
lasagna.
Kiernan stayed close, conscious of the
two boys following them, but not worried
about the young humans.
“What happened?” Melina asked as she
stopped in front of a young teen maybe
eighteen years old stretched out flat on his
back on a large metal table likely used to
prepare food. Blood spilled profusely
from a wound in his shoulder, dripping
onto the shiny surface and trailing to the
floor below.
Kiernan’s fangs faintly ached at the
coppery scent. He’d learned to control his
bloodlust over a century ago but some
things were biological.
“Shadow shot him,” the black kid said.
“Shadow?” Irene asked as Melina
pulled away the cloth that had been
pressed against the wound.
“Yeah. His real name’s Clyde. That’s
just his street name,” the same kid spoke
again, obviously the spokesperson of the
two.
“Why’d he shoot him?” Kiernan asked
this time.
The same kid eyed him for a long
moment then shrugged. “Raul went after
him because Shadow was messing with
Raul’s little sister. She’s fifteen, man.”
Another shrug.
Kiernan looked back at Melina as he
spoke to the kid again. “When you say
messing with her . . .”
A snort. “What the hell you think I
mean? He tried to rape her.”
Now his fangs ached to unleash for a
completely different reason. “What’s
Clyde’s last name?”
“Bricker,” the kid said after a short
pause.
Kiernan filed that information away as
he watched Melina work. It was obvious
this wasn’t the first time she’d helped her
friend considering the display of medical
supplies already laid out. She cleaned and
disinfected the wound with an impressive
quickness.
“You’re lucky this went all the way
through,” she murmured to her patient. To
give him credit, he hadn’t uttered more
than a few cursory groans.
As she finished cleansing him, Irene
turned to the other two boys. “You two
need to wait outside now.”
They left without argument. When Irene
turned to him, as if she planned to tell him
to leave too, Kiernan shook his head. All
his territorial instincts roared to the
surface at the thought of leaving Melina,
even for only a moment. “I go where she
goes.”
Melina shot him an exasperated look
over her shoulder. “You need to wait
outside . . . please.” She tacked on the
please as if it pained her.
Kiernan just raised an eyebrow and
tapped his wrist, as if he had a watch on.
“Time’s wasting. You can argue with me
or . . .” He shrugged, knowing it would
drive her crazy, but he wasn’t leaving her
side.
She opened her mouth once as if to
argue then growled at him. For the first
time since they’d met he could tell she
was truly annoyed with him. “Damn it,
Kiernan—”
“I am
not
leaving.” There must have
been something in his voice that
convinced her he was serious because
after a few seconds ticked by she sighed
and turned back to the young boy who’d
finally passed out.
Kiernan blinked as a soft blue glow
seemed to completely encompass the
teenager. It spread out from his hands
where Melina grasped him, moving to his
arms, across his torso, spreading
everywhere. It seemed to come from
inside him, pushing out warmth like a dim
nightlight.
Melina’s eyes were closed, her
expression serene, her body
preternaturally still. If he couldn’t hear her
heartbeat and see the soft rise and fall of
her chest he’d be worried about her.
Kiernan was silent as he stared at the
two of them, finally understanding why
Melina had been so drained earlier. She
was a healer, a being so rare they were
revered among all supernatural species. It
wasn’t in his coven’s file on her family—
though that hadn’t been updated in over a
decade—so he surmised this was a
guarded secret. Healers were treated with
respect across all species. It was an
unwritten rule. They were never targeted
or harmed even if factions were battling
each other.
After ten long minutes she drew her
hands back, looking pale and drawn and
ready to collapse. “He should be fine
now. It wasn’t a bad wound to begin
with.”
The wound was now almost completely
healed. A red puckered mark about an
inch in diameter remained on his shoulder.
She carefully placed a couple steri-strips
across the raw skin, but he doubted they
were even necessary.
Kiernan left the weapons on one of the
counters, deciding to let Irene do what she
wanted with them. The second Melina
finished he sidled up next to her, wrapping
his arm around her shoulders. He liked
touching her, being able to support her
even in a small way. To his surprise she
didn’t fight him. Instead she turned into
him and slid her arm around his waist
using him for support.
“Thank you so much, Melina,” Irene
said. “I’ll clean up everything and make
sure the boys don’t mention your presence
here to anyone.”
Kiernan bit back an angry retort. This
was the last place Melina should be,
especially without her pack’s protection
or knowledge. If there was one thing he
respected about shifters, it was that they
took care of their own.
But if she did this kind of thing without
her pack’s approval, he knew he was the
last person she’d listen to. He was just
glad he’d been able to go with her. She
was in no condition to drive right now and
if she’d been alone . . . He shoved that
thought away and they left.
Gently, he helped her into the passenger
seat, ready to get as far away from the
shelter as possible. He wanted her under
lockdown.
“How would you have gotten home if I
hadn’t been here to drive you?” he
snapped, the words coming out harsher
than he’d intended. He wanted to tell her
how amazing she was, how much he
respected what she was doing, but it
scared him knowing she could have been
out on her own in such a weakened state.
Sighing, she turned in her seat to face
him, her eyes heavy-lidded. “Irene would
have taken me or one of my female
cousins would have picked me up.”
Another tired sigh. “They’re the only ones
willing to go behind my father’s back.” A
soft, sweet chuckle.
“So you’re a healer.” Not a question.
Keeping one hand on the wheel, he
reached out with his other and stroked his
knuckles down her cheek.
“And you’re very sexy,” she murmured.
Surprised, he shot her a quick glance
before averting his gaze back to the road.
She was definitely tired and out of it to
blurt out something like that. Even though
it was underhanded he decided to get
some answers while she was in this state.
Something told him she’d be more open
when she was so languid. “So you didn’t
realize who I was at that club we met in?”
Her sleepy eyes blinked slowly as she
shook her head. “Nope. Not until you took
your shirt off. Saw your family crest
tattooed on your chest. Realized exactly
who you were then. Morgan and Oriana
Doyle’s son. My parent’s freaking
enemies,” she muttered, the words barely
audible.
There was nothing but pure truth in her
voice. He noticed the way she said her
parents, not her pack and not herself. A
strange feeling of relief slid through him.
“You don’t view my family as your
enemy?”
She shifted in her seat, laying her head
back against the headrest and closing her
eyes. “Why would I? You’ve never done
anything to me.”
Melina kept surprising him. It was
obvious she didn’t know the full extent of
the violent history between their families.
Which made sense. She was only twenty-
five. Most of his young cousins weren’t
aware of the violence that had passed
between his coven and their pack because
it had all been buried and settled well
over a century ago. They didn’t even live
in the same vicinity. Well, until now. His
father had decided to start scooping up
real estate in Miami after the recent
plunges in the market. While it was smart
from a business standpoint, it was also
playing with fire considering the
Rodriguez pack made their home here.
Still, it bothered him. “You didn’t think
about walking away when you saw my
crest?”
She let out a soft laugh that went
straight to his aching cock. “You were
practically inside me when I saw it and I
definitely wasn’t backing out then. No
more questions,” she said on a tired sigh.
He was done with talking too. As he
steered into parking garage he made a
decision he knew was going to change his
life. Though he’d already done it once in
an emergency, doing it a second time