Bound In Death (A Vampire and Werewolf Romance) (16 page)

She touched him. Wrapped her fingers around his arm, just as Zoe had done. Only when Zoe touched him, his blood hadn’t heated. His body hadn’t tensed. Need hadn’t pounded through him as his beast clamored for escape.

For her.

“You’re about to fight them all?”

Silence from the wolves.  They had to be tensing for battle, too.

“But…” Now Jane sounded confused. “They’re your family. They didn’t all attack me. It was just the ones in the woods.”

Maybe. But if he didn’t claim her, they’d grow more suspicious of her. Vampires and werewolves had a very long blood feud going.

One that wasn’t ending overnight. His claim would protect her.

Without it, he’d make sure that his claws and teeth did the job.

Her hold tightened on him. “Don’t do this.”

She’d taken his choice away.

Alerac pulled from her.  Kept his spine straight and his chin up as he met the stares of his pack. His claim had just been publicly refused.  That should have been humiliating.

It wasn’t.

He just…his chest hurt.

Alerac lifted his claws. “Who’s going to be first?” He was alpha for a reason. He’d prove that fact again this night. Before the sun rose, their blood would be on the ground. Jane would be safe.

He did a “come here” motion with his claws. “Let’s get started.”

“No!” Jane’s yell.

And then Jane was there. In front of him. Grabbing his wrists. Pushing her body against his. “You’re not doing this for me!”

Yes, he was. He wasn’t going to let her be threatened.

Jane shook her head. “No, not for me.” Her pulse raced. He could smell the fear that drifted from her.

He didn’t like the scent of fear on Jane.

He preferred the sweet scent of her desire.  

“I accept your claim.”

He liked it when—   

What?

“Did you hear me?” Her eyes searched his. “There’s no need to fight. No need to turn on your own. I accept your claim.”

“Fuck,” Ryan muttered.

Her fingers were stroking the inside of his wrists.  She was trying to soothe him.  He wasn’t in the mood to be soothed.

She’d just accepted his claim. That changed
everything.

“What happens now?” Her voice was a breathless whisper.

“Now…” Alerac turned her in his arms, positioning her so that all would see just what was coming. “I take you. I make you
mine.”

She was a creature straight from some kid’s nightmare. A blood-drinker. An immortal power.

And her knees were shaking.   

Alerac’s hard body pressed behind her. She could feel the strong muscles of his chest. The ripple of his cut abs. He hadn’t bothered with a shirt, so it was all too easy to feel the strength of his bare muscles against her.

He’d jerked on a pair of jeans. And his cock was, ah, definitely getting bigger and harder behind her.

Everyone was staring at her.

“Uh, Alerac…” She wasn’t sure just how the werewolves did things, but putting on a show for the pack wasn’t her idea of a good time.

“Do you accept my claim?” His voice seemed to thunder behind her.

Jane nodded.

Then she jumped when she felt his breath whisper against her ear. “You have to say the words,
a rúnsearc
.” 

Oh. Okay. “I accept your claim.”

The werewolves started shouting then. She wasn’t sure if those were celebrating shouts or we-want-to-kill-her shouts. 

It was too hard to tell the difference.

That whisper of his breath slid away from her ear as his mouth moved down to her neck.

Jane couldn’t help it. She tensed even more. The memory of Liam holding her down and tearing into her throat was far too fresh in her mind.

“Trust me.”

She wanted to trust Alerac. 

“It will only hurt for an instant.”

“Wait—” Jane began.

But it was too late. His teeth sank into her. Not her throat, but right at the curve of her shoulder. It did hurt, but, like he’d said, the pain only lasted an instant. A white- hot pulse that charged through her body.

After that pain,
pleasure.
  She gasped because she’d only been prepared for pain. Not for this.

More pules of pleasure shot through her, starting right there, where his mouth was on her skin, and they surged down…straight down to her sex.

He was licking her.  Kissing her skin.

And she was about to climax just from his mouth on her.

Horrified—
they’re watching—
Jane spun in his arms.

Those arms closed tightly around her.

“It’s done.” His voice carried easily over the shouts. “She’s mine.”

That hadn’t been so bad. She looked up at him.  “And you’re…
mine.
”

“Keira!”

Her head jerked at Ryan’s bellow. The werewolves were holding him back. Had the guy tried to lunge forward and stop the claiming?

Yes.

Zoe still stood in front of him. She was frowning up at Ryan. “Dumb, Drac, dumb.”

“Don’t do this!” Ryan yelled at Jane. “Don’t trade your life again. Don’t do it for me!”

She hadn’t.  Jane shook her head. “I did this for me.”

Then she was being lifted up in Alerac’s arms. He carried her into the main house. Before he crossed that threshold, he glanced back. “Zoe, keep the male vampire alive.”

Zoe nodded.

Alerac glanced over at the rest of his pack. “Liam is banished.  If you see him, take the bastard down. He will not hurt this pack again.  Search the woods. Protect the borders.  Do
not
turn your back on him.”

Their faces were grim.  Jane realized that they were all going to be hunting Liam now. He’d been a brother to them one moment, then a traitor the next.

Why? 
Alerac had trusted him. She was pretty sure Alerac had loved him.

As had the others.

Now there would be no room for love.

Only death.

Alerac turned from the assembled wolves. He carried her inside, and he shut the rest of the world.

***

“I guess that makes you think she’s less,” the small female said as she glared up at Ryan, “because your sister just tied herself to a vampire.”

Ryan barred his fangs at her.  Her scent…He shook his head, feeling a little drunk. Maybe that was just fury making him feel that way. Four werewolves were holding him in place—two on each side of him. If it hadn’t been for their cutting grip, he would have rushed up and stopped Alerac long before the alpha claimed Keira.

“It was her choice,” the woman continued. Her skin was the most delectable shade of dark cream that he’d ever seen. “Let it be, and you’ll both be under pack protection.”

Right. Like he gave a damn about that. “The same pack that attacked her just an hour ago?”  He was tired of those SOBs holding him. His fangs were ready to rip and tear.

“Don’t.”

He frowned at her. 

She shook her head. Then she pointed to the werewolves. “Let him go. I’ll watch the vamp.”

They let him go. Just like that.

The other werewolves were all backing away. The show was over, so they were gone? Forget that.

He stalked toward the main house’s entrance.

“You don’t want to interrupt him right now.” She sighed and said, “Whether you’re her brother or not, Alerac might just take your head if you interrupt the bonding ceremony.”

Ryan halted.  “I can take Alerac.”

“Why? Because you’re an ancient vampire?” She
rolled
her dark eyes. “Big deal. Alerac has killed plenty of those.”

Yes, he had.

“You know he’s not just a werewolf. Not anymore. Not thanks to her.”

His sister had changed Alerac. That change made the alpha even more dangerous.

He turned his head. Found his gaze sliding right back to the woman. She was small and delicate, when werewolves were normally built along much harder, tougher lines.  Her dark eyes were wide, almond shaped, and her full lips were set determinedly. 

“Who are you?” Ryan demanded as he studied her. She looked young, barely twenty-five, but werewolves and their ages could be deceptive.

Not as deceptive as a vampire’s age of course but…

“Zoe.” 

He lifted a brow.

“He won’t hurt her. You know he can’t.” She glanced toward the sky. “The sun’s rising soon.  You need to get to shelter.”

Shelter wasn’t what he needed. “Keira is being hunted.”

Zoe gave a little shrug as she headed away from him. “I think she calls herself Jane now.”

He stared after her.

“Sunlight makes you weak, right? I wouldn’t think you’d want the others to see you that way.” She looked over her shoulder. “No one is letting you leave, by the way.  So you can come willingly with me, or one of those guys—” She pointed toward the wolves who lingered near the edge of the woods. “Those guys will just lock you up until Alerac is ready to deal with you.”

Deal with—

“He said we couldn’t kill you, not that we couldn’t hurt you.”  She wasn’t looking at him any longer. “After the pain vampires have inflicted on this pack, there are plenty of werewolves looking for some payback.”

“I’m not afraid of some mangy wolves.”

The words were barely out of his mouth before he found claws at his throat. Her claws.  “Maybe you should be,” Zoe snapped.

He smiled at her—and knocked those claws away. In the next breath, she was trapped in his arms, and his teeth were inches from her throat. Her scent—so heady, so tempting—dared him to take a bite.

But when he looked up, he saw the wolves circling in on him.

Ryan let her go. Except…he didn’t want to.

He wanted to bite.

He locked his teeth.  “I’ll stay with you for today. You keep your claws off me, and I’ll keep my teeth out of you.” 

Maybe. He’d try.

She was just…tempting.

“Do we have a deal?” Ryan pushed.

She smiled at him. The woman actually flashed dimples as she said, “I don’t make deals with vampires.”

He didn’t usually want to fuck werewolves.

“But I think we can avoid killing each other until nightfall.”

Sounded like a plan.

He followed her away from the main house, enjoying the sway of her ass. A very nice ass, one that was encased in tight jeans.

“Are you this fierce when you shift into a beast?” Ryan asked her, curious. Because if she was, the woman would be one dangerous killing machine.

She stopped at the door of a two-story cabin, one with a row of flowers growing on its side. Pain flickered over her face. “No, I’m not.”

“I don’t know if I believe that.”

Her gaze slashed up to meet his. “Believe it. What you see is what you get.”  Zoe swallowed. “I don’t shift. I can’t.”

A werewolf who couldn’t shift?  He stared after her, and he felt shame. Shame that he’d attacked her. Shame that he’d made her hurt and—

“Get your ass in here, Drac, before you burn.”

He got his ass in that cabin. 

***

Heath stared at the pool of blood on the floor. His blood. Just inches from his face.

He should move. Get up. Run.

But he just felt so weak.

A door opened. Closed. Footsteps came into the room. Soft, rustling.

“Hello, witch.” That was Lorcan’s rough voice.

The footsteps stopped. Heath managed to turn his head, just a few inches, and he saw the woman.

No, not just a normal woman, a witch.

She was beautiful, with golden hair and deep eyes.  But those eyes looked wrong—
broken.

His gaze slid to her neck, and to the deep marks there. Would he soon bear similar scars?

Lorcan destroys everything that he touches.

The witch stared down at Heath. Pity softened her face. “I thought you were going to let him live.”

“I am.”  Lorcan just sounded bored. He usually did.  “Don’t worry, my dear, I didn’t drain him dry. He’ll be able to pull himself off the floor soon enough.”

The legs of a chair screeched as they were shoved across the wooden floor. Then Lorcan appeared. He wrapped his hands around the witch. Pulled her close.

The vampire acted as if he didn’t even feel the flinch that shook her.  “Do you have the cure?” he asked as he bent to lick the woman’s neck.

The pain had lessened in Heath’s neck. What cure?

“I do,” she said. Her eyes didn’t actually look broken so much as dead.

“Once she discovers that she has a brother, Keira—I mean, Jane—will pay dearly for that cure.” 

Jane had a brother? 

I can use that. I can use this cure. 
Heath kept his body still on the floor, not wanting to draw Lorcan’s attention.

“Pity for her,” Lorcan muttered, “that she didn’t get the cure sooner. Now it’s time for Ryan to die. Time for him to burn.”  He laughed then. “And he will burn, from the inside, out. He’ll die screaming. He won’t even last another full day.”

Lorcan freed the witch. He stalked toward Heath and kicked him in the ribs. “And, human, it’s time for you to finish our deal. Go get Jane. Bring her to me.”

Heath crawled for the door. And, with every painful inch, he planned.

***

She’d chosen him. 
Him.

Alerac kicked the bedroom door shut behind him.  His hands were shaking. The control he’d kept so carefully was being torn to shreds.

Jane waited in the middle of the bedroom. Her arms were by her sides and her feet shifted nervously. “Ah, what happens now?”

Now he took her.

But first…Alerac cleared his throat, and tried to speak with the voice of the man. Hard, when the beast was clawing his way to freedom. “You have to bite me.” 

Her sensual lips parted. “I-I already have.”

He shook his head. “That was different. That was about survival. This time, it’s for bonding.” He crossed to her.  His fingers lifted, and his thumb pressed against her lips.

She stared at him, and the darkness spread in her eyes.

“You drink from me so that we can be linked.” 

Her breath blew lightly over his thumb. “I’ll get more of your memories.”

“Yes.” That didn’t matter to him. She’d chosen to be his mate, so there was no going back now. He wanted her to know all of him. Good. Bad. Everything gray that fell between.