Forbidden Blood (37 page)

“
Yes, they could never ask you to mate with Naya now. What do you think the Council will say?”

“
That is a good question. I don’t know.” He smiled down at her. “However, it does make things easier for us.” He kissed her again.

“
I don’t know when we will be able to tell them we want to be mated,” Arianna said after they parted. She hoped they wouldn’t have to wait too long to be together.

“
Don’t worry. We will be together soon. I promise you this.”

He was undeniably wonderful to her, and Arianna rested her head on his chest.

“I love you,” she whispered.

It was enough to have Emerson care for her and want to be her mate, but when he said,
“I love you, too,” it made her heart sing.

S
TRIPPING OFF HIS clothes, Damien dropped them by the front door of the cabin he’d inherited from his maternal grandfather. It was still under his pappy’s name, making Damien’s ownership a secret, and it gave him some much-needed privacy.

He
’d left the lodge two days after the cat-shifter came to visit his father, and he had been here for almost two weeks. It had been the best thing to do at the time. His father had remained close-mouthed about the cat, and when it had gotten to the point where they were about to rip out each other’s throats, Damien had known he needed to leave before he challenged his father.

There was no question he would make a better alpha than Dwyer or that he would win. But it wasn
’t time. Until the rest of the pack, the sentinels especially, was behind Damien, he would never have their full respect as alpha.

Shifting into his wolf, he jumped off the porch.
Since it was technically in the Twin Cities area, these past few weeks had been his first time back to the cabin in years, and he’d missed it. Thankfully, he’d paid someone to maintain the land, keep the wood stocked in the shed, and clean out the dust and cobwebs every couple of months, so he’d only had to worry about bringing food, water, and clothes when he returned.

He was grateful his grandfather
had left him the land, giving him a place to get away from his father. His grandfather had never liked his father and had kept the cabin a secret from him, even before willing it to Damien. And Damien was smart enough to keep it that way—not just because his pappy had wanted it that way, but because he didn’t trust his father and what he would do with it.

Damien
wound his way through the trees, letting the cold wind blow over his fur, as he allowed the sights, sounds, and smells to invade his senses. There was always a certain peace when he let his wolf take over. He saw a rabbit sitting by a group of bushes, and he darted toward it. The rabbit took off, and he gave chase, enjoying the simple pleasure of hunting. He wasn’t really hungry, and after half a mile, he let the rabbit go. He pivoted and trotted the other way.

As he got closer to the cabin
, his thoughts turned, and he knew he needed to go back to the lodge and do something about his father. He needed to discover his father’s plans if he wanted to stop Dwyer. He needed to talk to the other sentinels and explain how his father had brought them back home for the wrong reasons. Without his sentinels to help, his father couldn’t succeed.

Damien jumped onto the porch and entered the cabin, shifting back to human. After a quick shower, he
dressed, made himself a quick meal, packed his stuff, and threw it all into his truck. He climbed behind the wheel, turned the engine over, and put the vehicle in drive.

One thing was for sure.
Damien wasn’t going to give in without a fight.

A lot had happened in the two weeks since Naya found out about her pregnancy and the
existence of shifters. She’d essentially moved into Vaughn’s apartment with him, and they had been learning more about each other every day, spending time getting to know one another better.

It was her third night at the apartment, and she sat on the bed, cross-legged, as she waited for Vaughn to get out of the shower. They’d discussed something they saw on the news the night before. She hadn’t felt like getting up once he had gone into the bathroom, so she waited for him to come out. Alone with her thoughts, she realized she hadn’t seen his cat side yet. Here she was, living with a shifter, and she had yet to experience that half of him.

It wasn
’t long before Vaughn strolled out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and went looking for clothes.

“
What do you want to do tonight?” he asked from his closet.

“
I want to see what you look like.”

He
walked out with a big smile on his face and dropped his towel. “You already know what I look like, but if you want to see again, I’m not going to complain.” He looked down his body and then back at her. “I mean, I don’t really blame you.”

She
rolled her eyes and laughed. “No. I mean, I want to see the other side of you. I’ve never seen your cat.” She bit her lip. “I want to know what you look like.”

He lost his smile and dropped his chin as his eyes
had filled with heat. He growled, and she felt it radiate to her core before extending out to her whole body.

Will he always affect me
this way?

“
Anything for you, baby,” he said with a rumble.

As he
had begun to shift, she felt complete fascination that she had the privilege to watch something this special. His legs shortened, and his arms had lengthened, becoming hind and front legs. His body became fuller, and his head had grown bigger with a flatter nose. His ears moved up toward the top of his head. The black hair on his head sprung out and become fur that spread over his whole body. Surrounding his head was a lion-like mane although not as long and thick. He had to be at least two hundred and fifty pounds, all of which was muscle and very impressive. He was about the size of a jaguar but not as big as a lion or tiger. In the middle of his face, his eyes were the same incredible blue color. The beauty of his cat took her breath away and made the fact that he was not a human or vampire very real and very cool.

“
Vaughn?”

He let out a small roar
, and she smiled.

“
I want to touch you.”

Roaring softly again as if saying she could, he walked up to her as she set her feet on the floor. He rubbed against her legs, and she
ran her fingers through the fur on his head. He was surprisingly soft. She’d thought his fur would be coarser.

Wanting him closer, she scooted back and patted the bed next to her. He jumped up and rubbed along her midsection and chest
before moving up to her face and neck where he had taken his time. She loved knowing Vaughn had used his cat scent glands to mark her as his.

Naya moved up on the bed
, lying back, to let Vaughn stand over her. She’d wanted him to know she wasn’t afraid and that she trusted him. His cat could be intimidating to anyone who crossed him, but she wasn’t scared. He would never hurt her. The lick he had given to the side of her face had made her giggle. Just like a small cat, his tongue was rough.

“
Thank you for sharing this with me. You’re beautiful.” She’d rubbed his ears and kissed his nose.

He
rubbed his head against her and curled up on the bed. She propped some pillows up against the headboard and grabbed the novel she was currently reading. He scooted closer to her to put his head in her lap. She threaded her fingers through his fur in a continuous motion, and he purred. The noise had been louder in his cat form, and she liked him purring next to the babies even though their hearing hadn’t developed yet.

That had been one of her favorite nights with him.

Naya still had insomnia and would sometimes
awaken to hear Vaughn purring. When this happened, she would curl up on his chest, rub her growing belly, and listen to him purr as he slept. She wasn’t even sure he was aware of it, but to her, it was a special part of him that he shared with her, and the sound would lull her back to sleep.

Besides opening himself to her, he w
ould be attentive to her needs. He would make sure she had plenty to eat and got plenty of rest. He had provided her with a key to his apartment, so she could come and go as she pleased. He’d also made sure she wouldn’t ignore her need for blood. It hadn’t quite been a month since she last fed, but the babies had sped up her hunger. She’d tried to put it off for as long as possible because the other times she’d fed, she’d been in the moment and hadn’t thought before she bit him. This time, she had been determined to ask him for permission first, but she hadn’t quite known how to go about it. In the end, it had turned out that she didn’t have to.

It was Saturday night. They’d been together for a week and a half, and they were out on a date. Their plan was to go to dinner and a movie, and so far they’d only made it to dinner. Vaughn was joking they could sit in the back and neck like teenagers when they got to the theater. Naya laughed in response, but it was mildly forced because what she really wanted to do was feed. She probably waited longer than she should have, and she would have to keep waiting because a public area was not the place for such a thing.

But after they left the restaurant, Vaughn
brought them home. She’d been in her head, debating how to approach the feeding subject, during the car ride, and she hadn’t even noticed they were back at the apartment until he’d pulled into the garage.

“
What? Why did we come back? Did you forget something?”

He
exited the car, came around to open her door, and helped her out. “There’s something I want to take care of inside. I don’t think it should wait, and we have some time before the movie.”

She followed him into the elevator and caught herself eyeing his neck again. She
’d done it a few times at the restaurant, too, and she forced her gaze away from him. She looked down at her hands instead, wishing she had stayed in the car while he did what he needed to do.

When they
got to their floor, Vaughn grabbed her hand and led her into the apartment. He took her purse and set it on the kitchen counter. He took off his jacket and button-up shirt and hung them over one of the kitchen stools. This had left him in just the T-shirt he’d worn underneath, and with his neck exposed, all she could think about was his blood—the smell and the taste.