Enemy Mine (8 page)

situation. Placing a gentle hand on

Kiernan’s forearm, she lightly squeezed.

“I need to go with my brothers.”

His jaw clenched impossibly tight as he

stared down at her. So many emotions

swirled in those dark eyes, but she

couldn’t get a handle on any of them.

Before he could speak, Miguel

growled, “Get the fuck away from my

sister.”

Kiernan’s head snapped up. “Or what?”

“Or I’ll do to you what I did to your

brother.”

Kiernan hissed in a sharp breath of air

and his muscles flexed underneath her

fingers. He didn’t move toward her

brothers but she could feel the energy

pulsing off him in scary waves as the

flames flickering along the tiled floor

jumped about a foot.

Ignoring her brothers, she focused on

Kiernan. There was a raw energy, an

almost pained expression on his face she

wanted nothing more than to wipe away.

“What’s he talking about?” she whispered

even though everyone in the room could

hear her.

“Miguel killed my older brother about a

hundred years ago.” His voice was so

monotone, so devoid of emotion she knew

he was holding all of it in.

All the air sucked out of the room with

that one statement. Her fingers clenched

on his arm, his words punching into her

chest with an almost tangible force.

“What?”

Instead of answering her, he turned

back toward her brothers. “I’ll let you

take your sister, but if you ever come into

my place uninvited again, you won’t be

walking out.”

Melina clutched his arm, desperate for

answers, to understand what had happened

between their two families. But he

stepped away from her, severing their

connection.

The action pierced her like a silver

dagger through the heart. Though she

wanted to stay, to force him to talk to her,

she knew it wasn’t the time or the place.

She had to diffuse the situation with her

brothers before it reignited.

Shaking off the arm, Carlos—the only

one of her brothers who had been

completely silent except to shout her name

when they’d stormed the condo—tried to

wrap around her shoulders, she stalked

down the hallway that led to the front

door. “You’re paying for all these

damages,” she said under her breath as

she yanked the door open. At least going

downstairs didn’t require a biometric

scanner.

She couldn’t believe the assault her

brothers had just launched on Kiernan’s

place, but what really stunned her was his

admission about Miguel killing his

brother. The almost stricken look on his

face taunted her.

A hollow, bereft feeling settled in her

chest as she stepped inside the elevator.

As soon as she talked to her brothers and

worse, her father, she and Kiernan were

hashing things out. She might have run

from what he made her feel once, but that

was then. Now things were different. He’d

pursued her for months and he didn’t get to

make her want and feel and start

considering the possibility of letting him

into her life then turn away from her

because of her family and their stupid

vendetta. She refused to let that happen.

Chapter 5

Melina sat in her father’s study reeking of

smoke—thanks to those stupid flash bang

grenades—and, of course,
vampire
as she

waited for her Alpha to interrogate her.

She’d ignored her brothers on the way

home, even Carlos, which she felt a little

bad about. They’d always been closest,

but right now she was livid at her

overbearing pack. Worse, she knew they

were going to use the attempted

kidnapping to keep her under lockdown.

She was all for safety and precautions, but

she didn’t want her veterinary practice to

suffer and she didn’t want to live like a

prisoner. If she hadn’t used so much

energy using her healing powers before

she would have been better prepared to

defend herself. She might not be the

strongest in the pack, but her brothers had

taught her to defend herself.

The heavy oak door opened then closed

behind her. Melina didn’t turn from her

seat in the high-back chair in front of her

father’s desk, but waited for him to take a

seat across from her.

Surprising her, her father, all six feet

three inches of him, sat in the matching

brown high-back chair next to hers and

shifted her seat to face his.

His green eyes, so much like her own,

were unreadable. Finally he scrubbed a

hand over his face. “God thinks it’s funny

to have given me a daughter like you.”

For a moment, pain pierced her soul

until he looked up, a smile on his normally

hard face. Before she could speak, he

continued. “Are you trying to kill me by

going out with Kiernan Doyle? Or worse,

start a war?” There was a dark, serious

note in her father’s voice she usually only

heard when he was dealing with the rest

of the pack.

“We have more important problems

than me dating a vampire, Dad. Someone

—wolf shifters—tried to kidnap me

earlier tonight. I was really drained after a

few surgeries today and wouldn’t have

been able to fight off my attackers. If it

hadn’t been for a
vampire
, I wouldn’t be here.” She left out the part about drinking

his blood. Definitely not something he

needed to know.

Her father’s eyes narrowed. “Did you

ever contemplate that maybe Kiernan was

involved and only used the situation to get

in your good graces?”

She had thought of that for a split

second before completely dismissing it.

“He set two of the shifters on fire and

blew up their van. Besides, I don’t think

he’d ever work with shifters for

anything
.” If he wanted to do something, he was the kind of man who’d do it

himself, not depend on others. “And what

purpose would he have for fake-saving

me?” He couldn’t have known she’d be

leaving the restaurant early, and he’d been

stopping by her veterinary clinic every

Friday for the past few months. On many

of those occasions she’d been alone. He

could easily have hurt her if he’d wanted

to. She’d seen the way he lit up those

shifters. The sexy vamp was powerful.

Her father’s face hardened. “To get you

into bed, to use you against our pack. The

options are limitless. And if he thinks I’ll

allow him to touch you—”

“Dad!” Right now she was talking to

her father, not her Alpha. “I so don’t want

to talk about that,
ever
. Whatever’s going on with Kiernan and me is our business.”

He thrust out a finger at her, driving his

point home. “It’s not your business if it

involves the pack.”

“Our pack attacked him, in his home.

He did nothing to us or me in retaliation,

though he had every right.”

“We didn’t know that and you weren’t

answering your phone. Instead you were

too busy healing thugs down at the

homeless shelter.” His head tilted to the

side a fraction, almost daring her to deny

it.

She jerked back, surprised by his

words.

His jaw clenched once. “Yes, I know

about what you do down there.”

“H-how?” She’d been so careful to

keep it a secret from him.

His green eyes narrowed ever so

slightly. “I’m Alpha for a reason.”

She bit her bottom lip and frowned. “So

if you knew I was moving around of my

own free will, you had to know I wasn’t in

any danger from Kiernan.”

“We knew no such thing.” But his

words didn’t ring true.

Her father wasn’t a fool, not at almost

three hundred years old. He’d wanted to

make a statement to Kiernan by invading

his condo, but he hadn’t been there

himself. If he’d truly thought her in danger,

he’d have led that raid, not sent her

brothers. And if he’d been there it would

have sent a clear message to Kiernan. By

staying back, it had been obvious he

hadn’t been declaring war.

Sighing, she decided to leave the topic

alone for the moment. They would never

see eye-to-eye on the subject of one very

tall, very sexy vampire and she didn’t

want to argue with her father. Not when

they had more pressing matters at hand.

But first . . . “Why did Miguel kill

Kiernan’s brother? I’ve never heard that

story.
Why
have I never heard that story?”

She’d planned to ask Kiernan about it

first, but her curiosity was killing her.

Her father was silent for a long

moment, his face contemplative. Finally

he spoke. “The war between our two

factions was over a long time ago, but they

were the ones who started it. It could have

been completely avoided if they’d kept

Corey—that was Kiernan’s brother—

accountable for his actions. I’ll let your

vampire friend tell you what his brother

did. If he tries to tell you it was our fault

or brush aside his brother’s actions, you’ll

know what kind of man he is. And you

know me, Melina. I wouldn’t lie to you.”

No, he wouldn’t. Knowing that was all

she’d get out of her father, she switched

topics. “Does anyone know I was in that

car accident?”

Her father nodded. “Other than your

brothers, Solon also knows but he won’t

say anything. He and Miguel both scented

your blood but didn’t want to alert their

superiors until they spoke to me first.”

She understood why. Solon might not be

part of their pack—as one of the last

remaining dragon shifters he wasn’t part

of
any
pack—but he still deferred to her father in many things even if it superseded

police regulations. If they thought she’d

been hurt or taken they wouldn’t have

wasted time dealing with red tape when

her pack would be doling out the

punishment to her kidnappers. “What

about the van and dead shifters?”

“The cops are running the DNA on them

but they scented at least two additional

shifters not part of our pack. Wolf

shifters.” A soft, deadly growl emanated

from him, filling the room and sending a

chill down her spine.

Her father rarely raised his voice and

she knew that the quieter he got, the

angrier and deadlier he was. In the past

shifters had gone up against him thinking

to make a reputation by killing an Alpha,

but they always failed. While he might

seem like a laid back Alpha, her father

moved like lightning and struck with the

viciousness of a sledgehammer. He hadn’t

claimed southeast Florida easily, but he’d

held onto it for a long damn time. When he

was in wolf form . . . she shuddered. It

was definitely best to stay out of his way

then. “Did they recognize them?”

“No.”

“Is this about business or one of Miguel

or even Carlos’s cases?” Since Carlos

was in the vice and narcotics division, it

stood to reason this could be about him

too. Though coming after her was just

plain stupid, and druggies and pimps were

all about survival. She found it hard to

believe this was related to Carlos.

“Don’t know yet but we’re going to find

out. I’ve got feelers out all over the city. If

anyone knows anything, we’ll know it

soon enough. Until then you’ll have an

escort to and from your clinic. No

arguments.”

Melina wasn’t about to argue. She

didn’t have a death wish. “Okay.”

Her father’s eyes slightly narrowed.

“Why do I feel like you gave in too

easily?”

Grinning, she stood and kissed him on

the forehead. “I’m not stupid. Someone

wanted to take me, probably to hurt you or

the pack. I want pack protection.” She just

didn’t want to be a prisoner, something

her father had obviously realized since he

was letting her work. If he hadn’t, it was

something she’d have fought tooth and

nail.

“I don’t want you to see the vampire

again.” A soft warning.

Her claws nearly unsheathed, her inner

wolf hating the order, instantly rebelling at

the thought of staying away from Kiernan.

She was surprised by the intensity of her

reaction. “The vampire has a name, and

I’m a grown woman. I can and will make

my own decisions about my love life.”

Her father rose. “Melina—”

The office door swung open and her

mother strode in, all five feet two inches

of her. “Nevada.” There was a warning

note in that single word. When her mother

said her father’s name like that, he usually

listened. Melina bit back a smile and

hurried out of the room, only stopping to

kiss her mom on the cheek. Her father

might be Alpha but he didn’t like getting