He too was obviously offended by the notion of wearing clothes, but with him, I could totally understand why. The current body that he was hitching a ride in was absolutely magnificent. But aside from his strapping good looks, he exuded an air of confidence that left little doubt that he was the one who was running the show.
He strode across the room with calm purpose, stopping only briefly to touch each of the other two on the shoulder, in reassurance, before continuing on.
He stopped in front of me, my innocent eyes all but deflowered by the large amount of naked flesh I had gawked at in the last twenty four hours.
I looked away, out the window. I’d seen enough franks and beans to last me a lifetime.
‘Is something the matter?’ John drawled as he sat down on the ottoman in front of my chair.
I turned back to look at him, my face impassive. ‘What do you all have against wearing clothes?’
He looked at me for a moment and then glanced down at his naked form, before lifting his amused gaze to meet mine. ‘To us this
is
like wearing clothes. You have to remember that we’re wolves, not humans.’ He touched his chest and pinched at the flesh with his fingers. ‘This skin that we wear is the mask. Who we really are and our true form is the wolf inside. So if our human skin offends you I apologise, but it certainly is easier to communicate when we have human tongues, human minds, and their language to control.’
I snorted. ‘Of all the things you
could
apologise for, you choose to apologise because you’re skin
offends
me? Don’t apologise to me because you can’t be bothered with a pair of underpants, apologise for beating the crap out of me, impregnating all those innocent, young women, and for plaguing the earth with your sick desire to drink and eat everyone that you see.’
John shook his head. ‘That’s really rather harsh given that you, too, are a part of us. We’re in your blood.’
‘I’m nothing like you,’ I spat out.
He arched an eyebrow and leaned in closer. ‘Was it not you who killed three of my packmates? And weren’t you the one who injured me, drank my blood? You even looked like you enjoyed it. Now correct me if I’m wrong, but I do believe you’ve just accused me of doing those very same things—yet I’m the one who is sick and underhanded? At least I don’t pretend to be anything other than what I am.’
‘It’s not even close to being the same thing. I’m not one of you. I don’t kill innocent people and I reiterate the word
people
…’
He chuckled. ‘See this is where you and I differ. I do not kill people because I want to. I kill people because I have to. I was born a hunter and a natural killer, but the Vampires have ingrained me with a natural want to feed, to feed constantly off the blood of humans and vampires alike. Why do you judge me so harshly for something that is beyond my control?’
‘I judge you because you must know the difference between right and wrong. You could choose to feed from synthetic blood and co-exist peacefully as the Vampires try to do, but you don’t. You hunt humans who, in comparison to you, are weak and vulnerable.’
‘Synth blood—yeah, right,’ Adam said, chuckling and elbowing Greg in the ribs.
John turned and looked at him sternly.
He went instantly quiet, his head bowing down in front of him again.
John turned back to me again, his green eyes sizing me up. ‘Why should we have to conform to human ethics? We are the stronger race. It doesn’t make sense that we curtail our behaviour to suit the requirement of your Protectors and the other humans.’
‘Ugh,’ I muttered. ‘With an attitude like that, you’ll always just be animals. No wonder everyone hunts you.’
‘You’ll soon be the hunted too, Elena.’
I wriggled around in my confines and narrowed my eyes at him. ‘How do you know my name?’
He chuckled lightly and slapped a hand against my thigh, squeezing it tight. ‘I know a lot of things about you, Elena. For one, I know that you have been raised by the magical folk and are quite proficient at defending yourself. You’ve shown that with the death of three of my pack mates.’ He took a deep breath and frowned. ‘I know that you are currently growing, shall we say, more intimate with a vampire—one that has been a thorn in my side for years. I can still smell him on your breath. And I also know that you are a
born
vampire, but a vampire that also happens to be carrying the blood of the wolf. Now how do you suppose that happened?’
‘It’s like I told your buddy over there, when a mummy and a daddy love each other very—’
His laughter cut me short. ‘A comedian too, I suppose,’ he said, smiling again too widely. ‘I’m aware that you also heal like the Vampires? That certainly would have been a favourable gift to have received from our makers, rather than shifting. Do you know how difficult it is to survive three hundred years without dying?’
‘I don’t really care,’ I answered in an offhand manner, staring out the window again and trying to make sense of the trees that I could see outside. Were we still in the forest somewhere or just on a really big property where no one could hear the screams?
He laughed again, leaning forward further on the ottoman and redirecting my face towards his with his fingers. His eyes were now level with my own. ‘You will care when I bleed you dry, again and again, until I get the answers that I need. And, believe me, I will enjoy it, because your blood,’ he said, pausing and licking his lips, ‘is delicious.’
‘And if you had your answers? What would you do with them anyway?’ I said as I glared at him.
He let go of my chin and leaned back on the ottoman. ‘The answer to our victory is in your blood, Elena. If we could somehow harness or transfer your immunity to ourselves, so that we could self-heal, then nobody would be able to stop us. Not even your pesky boyfriend.’
That’s what I thought.
William was right. All the Vânâtors longed for was power and domination. ‘I won’t help you do that,’ I whispered.
‘You’ll be surprised what you’re capable of when other people’s lives are in your hands, Elena. Take that vampire that you love so much—he’s been hunting me and decimating members of my packs for years. I have escaped his deadly intentions more times than I can count. It wasn’t until I fought him in Mackay that I realised his mind was distracted now, by something other than the hunt. Well I’ve decided that I’m going to kill two birds with one stone. I’ll use you as the bait, lure him to me for a final show down, and then once he’s out of the way I can get back to the business of recreating my pack, and unlocking the secrets of your blood.’ He ran a finger down the side of my neck and licked his lips. ‘And that shall be my favourite part.’
He leaned in close to me again and brushed his nose along the side of my jugular, taking deep, lingering breaths. For a brief instant his tongue flicked out and caressed the flesh of my neck, something deep within me responding. Horrifyingly, I could feel heat rising within me, my blood boiling slightly under his touch and the scent of his skin so close to mine making my skin prickle with anticipation.
What the hell? Am I … excited?
John leaned away from me, my whole body momentarily devastated by the break in contact. He had a satisfied smirk on his face, his eyes black as pitch and teeth were drawn and ready to take their fill. I should have been terrified, I should have been screaming my protests in every undesirable word I could think of, but for some strange reason all I wanted was for him to get close to me again.
He silently obliged by leaning forward again, but he did not go for my neck. Instead, he dipped his head down towards my thighs, his head tilting to the side and watching me as he sniffed lightly at the air. A smile spread across his face as he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. Then he lifted his head back up to mine again and touched my slightly parted lips with his own.
I sat in stunned silence; having no clue as to why this would be pleasurable. I didn’t move and I didn’t respond, but I also couldn’t pull away either.
What the hell is wrong with me?
His tongue danced lightly across my lips and then pulled away. Adam and Greg stepped forward and watched the proceedings, their growing interest extremely… evident.
‘Well, that was an interesting little discovery,’ John said, looking down at me with black emotionless eyes.
‘What’s happening, John?’ Greg said as he looked back and forth, from me to John repeatedly.
‘Elena is responding to her alpha.’
‘You mean …’ Adam said in surprise and pointing directly at me.
John nodded. ‘I can smell her heat.’
I wanted to roll over and die. What he was saying couldn’t be true. How could I be attracted to an animal? It was just disgusting.
‘You know, Elena,’ John said, leaning forward and brushing a finger across my cheek. ‘Our time together could definitely be more interesting if you just allow your wolf nature to bubble to the surface.’
I flinched away from him. ‘I will never do anything for you,’ I growled, though I could hear the doubt in my own words.
He chuckled lightly and scooted closer on the ottoman, so that his thighs were clamped tightly around mine. ‘Your vânâtor blood says otherwise. I never imagined that us sharing blood with each other would give me possession over you. Don’t get me wrong, you are strong. I can feel your resistance to me, but I can also smell your need to please your alpha.’
‘Get away from me!’ I hissed.
He shook his head. ‘I don’t think so—things just got a little more interesting. Besides, if I can’t get from you what I want to know, then I can always use your body for other things. I do enjoy your blood, but as a self-healer you will be able to bear me pups, over and over again, a whole litter.’
‘You can try, Vânâtor, but if you put that thing anywhere near me, I’ll kill you.’
‘Hmm, we’ll see,’ he said distractedly, as he pulled back his lips and lowered his sharp teeth down towards my neck.
* * *
Darkness was starting to become welcome relief. In the dark there was no noise, no people, and no fear of pain. It was a numbness that was comforting. It was just a dark empty space in my mind that my body automatically reached out to each and every time blood was taken from me, draining me of life and any will to live.
During that time, pain was always the first thing I felt—mind-numbing pain that soon stretched into an easy reluctance, and then, finally, into nothing at all except the knowledge that he was taking precious blood from my body again. Even my veins ached under the absence of warmth my lifeblood provided.
John was greedy and unrelenting. How many hours had I been strapped into that chair while he took my life from me I did not know. How hungry could one wolf be? Or was he sharing me with his pack mates now?
As I curled up in the middle of the darkness, I noted that embers of light were starting to penetrate my vision. They were small at first, only dancing around the edges before turning into soft beams of light, and flashes of colour, and objects that I had no desire to see ever again. Voices were rampant now. There was so much sound in one tiny space. Talking, talking, talking and on top of that, a muffled screaming. Was it me? Was I screaming?
An eyelid fluttered open. I was still sitting in the living room, strapped to the leather chair with rope, thicker than my wrists, tied all around me. Where was everyone?
I closed my eyes again, wishing for darkness to engulf me. I heard another scream. My eyes flicked open again. It was Elizabeth. I could hear her clearly now, even from up here. She was screaming from pain and screaming for a help that wasn’t coming.
I swallowed. My throat felt raw and dry. How long had it been since I’d eaten or drunk anything? A day? Two days?
‘John, she’s awake,’ a new voice said, coming forward and tapping me on the side of the face.