Authors: Annie Nicholas
The sound of the front door being kicked in and Sugar’s distressed high-pitched voice startled Spice from a deep sleep. She jumped out of bed and reached to wake Eric only to find him already gone. Grabbing a dirty t-shirt and jeans from the floor, she got dressed while stumbling down the hall to investigate the noise.
Sugar’s voice came from the basement and Spice ran by the front door, which hung from one hinge. Oh God, someone had broken in and was attacking her twin.
She glimpsed sunlight peaking over the horizon. Thin smoke wafted in the air and made her cough. What the fuck? “Sugar!”
Taking the stairs two at time, she ran past Sam and Tyler’s empty bedrooms to the open door of Daedalus’s man-cave. She saw Sugar ahead as she ran through the doorway following someone. If this was some sort of sex game she’d kick both their asses. Then the time dawned on her half-asleep brain, what was a vampire doing up during the day?
A smoke trail led to Daedalus’s room, and anger boiled in her chest as she heard her little sister’s sob. Someone had hurt
her
twin. She stomped the rest of the way into the room, then stopped in stunned silence.
Eric placed a limp Daedalus in his coffin and allowed Sugar to give him a quick kiss before closing the lid. “He’ll be all right. We just got the timing wrong.” He chuckled. “Maybe he’ll have a tan after this.”
Sugar smacked his arm. “It’s not funny.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, Spice fumed. “Can someone explain to me what the hell is going on?”
Her sister twisted around, tears stained her cheeks and soot smudged her nose. She wiped it on the sleeve of her housecoat. “The sunlight caught Daedalus on the way in the house. I freaked when I saw his head burst into flames.” She glanced at the coffin. “He’ll heal in his sleep. We just needed to get him inside.”
“That explains the smoke.” A flaming head?
Cool
. “Is it always this exciting around here?” The adrenaline still coursed in her bloodstream which made her shout the last question. Everything seemed under control. No one had broken in, Sugar appeared physically fine, and Eric was accounted for. She took a few deep breaths, and her heart rate slowed.
Blood drops on the floor led to the shiny black coffin. “Why is he bleeding?” She pointed to the trail.
“What?” Sugar spun around and reached for the lid, but Eric took her hands.
“It’s from me.” He glanced at Spice.
In three steps, she was at his side and examining his body. A large blood stain spread across the back of his shirt. She grabbed the bottom of it. “Off,” she ordered as she pulled it over his head.
He groaned when he lifted his arms. Four deep lacerations crossed his back from the right shoulder to left hip, one next to the other.
“Oh my God, something attacked you!” She leaned in for a closer look. “I can’t see in this light. You might need stitches.”
“I’ll be fine, Spice.”
“My ass, you’ll be fine. You probably got rabies from whatever clawed you. Up to the bathroom where I can see your wounds better.” She smacked him on the bottom. “Now.”
Sugar glanced at the coffin, then back at them.
“I’ll take care of Eric. You can stay here if you want.” Not like her twin could do anything for Daedalus, but if she needed to be close to the coffin for her own sanity, so be it.
Spice followed Eric up the stairs. Blood oozed from the jagged wounds in slow drips and seeped into his gray track pants. Not as much bleeding as she’d expect though.
In the bathroom, he stood in front of the large vanity over the sink and looked at his back. “It will heal, Spice. Don’t worry about me.”
Upon closer examination, she saw that some of the gouges went to muscle. Her stomach rolled over. “You need to see a doctor. We’ll use Daedalus’s car, it probably has blood all over it anyway.”
Eric moaned. “He’s going to kill me when he sees the passenger seat.”
“Screw him.” She opened the cabinets looking for disinfectant and bandages. The least she could do was clean the wounds and prevent infection from setting in. “What kind of dog attacked you anyway? A Rottweiler?”
She heard him shuffle his feet, then sit on the covered toilet. “It was a werewolf.”
The bottle of peroxide slipped from her hands and she blinked while it tumbled to the floor. She heard the words, but it didn’t want to register.
“Spice?”
She lifted her chin and stared into his brown eyes, then the adrenaline kicked in again. “Jesus H. Christ, Eric. Th-that’s contagious, right? We need to get you to the hospital. Do they have a vaccine or something?” She gasped. “I better call nine-one-one.” She spun around and ran out of the bathroom to the kitchen where a phone hung on the wall.
Things had been going too well. She
knew
it. A black cloud of bad luck followed her wherever she went, and now she’d passed it on to Eric.
In her frenzy to reach the phone, she didn’t hear him follow her. As she picked up the receiver, he placed a finger on the button to disconnect the line before she dialed.
“Don’t,” he whispered. “I never told you my secret.”
She slowly hung up the receiver. Her heart dropped and rolled with her stomach. Deep down inside she knew what he’d tell her.
“I won’t catch it, Spice. I am already a werewolf.”
Her knees weakened and she sank to the floor. “When did you plan on telling me?” His eyes, she’d seen them change color but let it go. It explained the changes that had occurred since the last time she’d seen him, not only the physical aspects but the more feral edge she glimpsed on occasion.
From the corner of her vision, she saw him wince as he crouched next to her. “Last night, this morning, as soon as I could get the courage.”
Turning her head to stare at him, she noticed how he braced himself as if waiting for a physical blow. His shaggy, long hair fell over his bent head like a veil. The strong line of his muscled shoulders sagged as he balanced himself on the balls of his feet and used one hand on the floor to steady his stance. His fingers lay splayed by her hip.
Did it matter?
Werewolves were considered legal citizens. Hell, Sugar shacked up with a vampire. Eric made her world a brighter, better place. No man had ever done that for her. This week they’d been together gave her more joy than any other time in her life. She brushed her fingers over his hand.
His head lifted, and he met her gaze. The pain etched on his face aged him. It wrung her heart like nothing ever had. She’d caused it, not his wounds, and she never wanted to see this expression again. Reaching out, she touched his chin and came to her knees to draw closer to him. “
What
you are doesn’t matter, only
who
you are does.”
Such simple words, yet it carried the heavy weight of how much he meant to her. He rewarded her with a huge smile. The one she loved. The one he’d given her when he first realized who she was. Comfort and warmth radiated from that smile.
It lifted her soul.
“You’re not going to leave me?” He sat next to her.
“Never.”
He wrapped her in his arms but grimaced with the fast movement.
“We should treat those wounds.”
“No, trust me. They’ll be healed by nightfall. Injuries don’t last long with werewolves. These haven’t healed yet because I got them in my human form, so they take a little more time. The ones I got as a beast are already gone.”
Beast? She swallowed, not sure if the dryness came from fear or an odd sense of curiosity. “What were you and Daedalus doing?”
“I was stopping a challenge, but they—”
“Challenge?”
“I-they-I.” He blew out a frustrated breath. “Maybe I should start at the beginning.”
She nodded. “Did you volunteer to become one?”
“No! Never. When I was in college I got attacked while walking across the campus. I don’t think whoever did it planned on my surviving. They tore me apart pretty much.”
“Why?”
It looked like he stared at a faraway place. “There’s something about the smell of fear that can be intoxicating. If you don’t restrain your beast, take control of it instead of the other way around, it can lead you down a dark path.” He sat in silence for a moment, then shivered with a deep sigh. “It left me to die. I awoke in the hospital with Sugar at my side. I lived with her as I recovered until the local werewolf pack, the Ayumu, took responsibility of me. I went to live with some of them.” He shook his head. “Some were no better than animals. Dominance is very important to pack hierarchy, and I didn’t understand that concept at the time.”
“How could you? You were dealing with a huge life change.” She stroked his hair as he leaned his head against hers.
“I can’t express how good it feels to tell you.” He kissed her forehead. “But there’s more.”
She snuggled to his chest and listened to the pounding of his heart. What a sight they’d be if someone were to walk in at this moment. Eric half naked with bleeding claw marks across his back with her dressed in dirty laundry sitting on his lap in the middle of the kitchen floor. She snorted.
Eric seemed to take it as a sign to continue. “I left the pack as soon as they deemed it safe. I couldn’t wait to get away from them. The apartment next to Sugar became vacant, and I took it. Your little sister was my rock during all this. She helped me find the others, Sam, Robert, Tyler and Katrina.”
“They’re werewolves too?” She sat up straighter in his lap and knocked his chin on her head.
He laughed while he rubbed it. “Yes.”
“Sugar’s the only human?”
“And you.” His grin was infectious. “But you need to let me finish.”
She listened as he told her how Daedalus came into their lives and the Omegas absorbed the larger pack of Ayumus.
“An alpha of a pack.”
“Trying to be. I don’t think I’m doing a very good job. They insist I need a mate. The old alpha, Michael, never took one, and they blame that for making them such a male dominant pack with little morals. The male alpha is the soul of the pack, but the female is the heart.”
“Mate? As in they want you to fuck someone else besides me?” She crossed her arms. “I’m not into sharing.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to. That’s what caused the fight tonight. Some of the females were conducting challenges for dominance at an abandoned warehouse we keep for such things. I stopped them. Then I announced I wanted courting rights since I found a potential mate. Three of them turned on me. I had to put them in their place, otherwise the males would view me as weak and start challenging me as well.”
“You want me as a mate? To become a werewolf?”
“No, no. I’d never ask anyone to do that. I’m still not sure what to do now, but this will give me some time to think and plan. Don’t worry, I’ll figure it out.” He ran his thumb along her cheek and heat flooded her body. “I just want us to be together.”
“You fought werewolves to be with me.” She grinned at him and winked. “I think I’m a little turned on.”
With a display of speed she’d never witnessed from him, he dumped her on the floor and crawled on top. His eyes faded to the golden amber she’d glimpsed before, but this time he didn’t try to hide it. “Then you don’t hate me?”
“I meant what I said last night. I’m here for keeps, babe.” She ran her fingers into his thick mane. “It’s nice to know you’re not perfect. Everyone should have a flaw.”
He laughed. “I’m far from perfect.”
“I don’t know. From here you’re looking pretty damn fine.” She pulled him down to her lips and slid her hands around to his back.
He flinched.
“Shit.”
“I’m okay, really.”
She laughed. “Go to bed. I’m going to make some breakfast. After I take a plate to Sugar, I’ll bring you one.”
“Naked. Serve it to me naked.”
She laughed. “Definitely not perfect.”
Daedalus strolled into the living room, the tip of his right ear a little less pointy since his head caught on fire two days ago. Eric tried to hide his amusement behind Spice’s wild, short curls. The vampire turned out to be sensitive about the small loss.
The memories of their crazy car ride home were still vivid. When Clair and her cronies jumped him in the warehouse, he freed his beast and kicked their mangy asses. The fact they thought he could be taken down so easily ate at him. He still needed to prove himself to his pack.
Behavior like Clair’s needed to be stomped out of the pack. Dishonorable, untrustworthy, and disgraceful could be used to describe many of them, but over the last year he’d chased away the worst and nurtured the best. Now he needed to figure out how to unite the old pack with the new.
His first step sat in his arms. Beautiful lush curves pressed to his body. Spice may not be wolf and could never be the pack’s heart but she owned his, and with her support he could accomplish anything.
Spice, forever her little sister’s champion, came to her rescue when she heard the screams only to find they’d been keeping secrets from her.
Forced to reveal the truth, he couldn’t believe his luck when she accepted everything without much question. Unlike her twin, who had run, needing time to come to terms with the paranormal, Spice knew what she wanted. Him.
He kissed the back of her neck as she rolled the dice. They played Monopoly tonight with everyone in the house, and she dominated.
“No distracting the master, honey.” She waved him off.
Daedalus stopped by the table with a letter in his hand. “This was pinned to the front door. It has your name on it.” He offered it to Eric.
“Somebody made a hole in my brand new wooden door with a pin?” Sugar rose from the floor by the gaming table and went to inspect the damage.
“It’s just a door.” Daedalus followed her.
Their chatter faded into the background as Eric looked at the envelope. His name was scrawled on the front in pen. He slid his finger under the edge and tore it open, then pulled out a folded piece of paper.
His breath caught in his chest as he read it.
Spice leaned closer and read it as well. “Can she do this?”
“No.” He smacked the note with his hand, wishing it was Clair’s head instead, and re-read it out loud.
Eric,
Did you think I wouldn’t find out she’s human? Accord law states a
mate has to be of the same species. Courting time denied and challenges have
continued until this evening.
I’ve won.
Keep the girl as a pet, I don’t care, but I will rule at your side.
Clair
The paper crinkled as he crushed it in his hand. “Can’t I get a break?” he shouted at no one in particular.
Sugar and Daedalus returned to the room, he quirked an eyebrow at Eric, never approving of outbursts from him.
Leaders must maintain a calm exterior at all times, to reassure his people,
no matter how angry or frightened they might be inside.
Offering the note to the vampire, Eric started to pace the room with slow, steady strides. How was he going to take care of that bitch?
“They didn’t know Spice is human?” Sam asked as he rose from his seat next to Katrina. His eyes darted between Daedalus and him.
“Of course not, I wouldn’t be able to stall them if they did.” He glared at Sam and smelled his fear from across the room.
Sweat beaded on the smaller muscular werewolf’s forehead as he edged around the table.
“What did you do, Sam? Why are you suddenly afraid?”
He stopped, his breathing a little heavier, and stood behind Tyler. “I-I didn’t know, man. If someone would have told me I wouldn’t have said anything.”
“To who?” The question came out as snarl. For a moment, a red haze blinded him. He hadn’t been this angry since his confrontation with Michael.
Sam fell to all fours and crawled to his Alpha’s feet. “Last night, I met a girl at a pack party. You-you asked me to go to them to feel the pulse of the pack. She took me home, and we had a good time. Her questions sounded so innocent, like curiosity about her aloof Alpha.”
Eric took a few deep breaths and blew some steam off. He didn’t want to hurt Sam. His anger was at Clair. “She asked about my prospective mate?”
“She seemed excited about it. I couldn’t help but brag and say what a great match you guys made. It never occurred to me you couldn’t mate a human.”
“Didn’t you ever read the copy of the Accords that I gave to everyone in the pack?”
Sam stared at the floor and shook his head.
Each of the original Omegas pack was in the room. Eric turned and looked at them. Katrina pressed herself against Tyler, who didn’t have anything funny to say for once. Robert sat on the floor with his arms crossed over his chest and glared at their groveling friend.
“Did any of you read it?” Eric tried not to sound disappointed.
“I have trouble with English, but Tyler read them to me. I admit to not understanding much of it though.” Katrina rested her head on her boyfriend’s shoulder.
He smoothed her long black hair with his hand. “Same here, dude. I grew up with English. It’s like Shakespeare wrote it or something.”
Eric sighed and rubbed his temples.
“Maybe I should get a modern translation of the Accords made,” Daedalus offered.
“We’ll figure this out, Eric. You’re not alone.” Robert’s declaration didn’t ease his worry.
Every week something new came up, and every week he had to find a solution for the problem. The burden of the pack would eventually break him. He needed help. He needed a mate.
Spice stayed quiet, sitting on the couch, the dice still clutched in her hand. He could almost hear the wheels turning in her head. It made him nervous. She’d want to do something, but Clair would tear her apart, literally.
“Game night is over. Get off the ground, Sam. We’ve got work to do.” He extended his hand to the smaller werewolf at his feet. Sam might not be able to keep his dick in his pants and could be careless, but he was loyal and true. Eric couldn’t buy those last two qualities in a person.
Sam took Eric’s hand and pulled himself to his feet. “Sorry,” he mumbled, then looked around Eric to Spice. “I’m a bonehead, if you haven’t figured it out yet.”
“I have,” she responded.
He cleared his throat and stared at his shuffling feet.
Eric glanced at her over his shoulder and winked. He didn’t want his girl to carry a grudge against Sam. If memory served him right, Spice could carry one with a vengeance. “I want the four of you to split up in two groups. Find the pack and see where they stand on Clair. I’m going to see if I can find and confront her myself.” He turned to Daedalus. “I’d like you to stay here and protect them.” He nodded to the twins.
The Ayumu had attacked his home after he won the challenge against Michael. It wouldn’t surprise him if Clair tried to kill Spice. Daedalus, a Nosferatu Prime, could easily take on whatever she planned.
“You also know the Accords better than any of us. Can you see if there’s a loophole out of this?”
The vampire shook his head. “We’ve been down that road. The Accords clearly state—”
Eric touched his shoulder. “Look again.”
“Too bad Spice’s not pack.”
Eric squeezed Daedalus’s shoulder when he spoke those words. He didn’t like the hint contained in them. Sometimes the vampire couldn’t stop from meddling.
“I’ll go over them now. Send someone to relieve me before dawn.” He left with Sugar in tow.
The Omegas got their jackets and left the house. Eric stood by the door as Spice wrapped a scarf around his neck.
She came to her tiptoes to give him a tender, short kiss. “You do what you have to do and deal with her, Eric.”
He took her face between his hands, not too surprised to hear such a comment from his fierce love. “I’m not killer, Spice.”
“She sounds conniving, selfish and untrustworthy. It will poison those around her. Only the strong survive, your pack deserves someone with the strength and conviction to kill for it. If you need to take a mate besides me, I can understand, but choose one with the right qualities. I’ve been a mistress before, I can be one again.”
He swallowed around the lump in his throat. Over his dead body.