Feral Instincts (The Feral Series) (20 page)

Liam
made it to his feet but as his unfocused eyes looked at Joseph he began to
sway. Joseph reached for him to try to break his fall but the giant vampire was
just too big and both men went to the ground with a crash. Pulling himself free
of Liam’s weight Joseph leaned over him, accessing his friend’s injuries. With
a jerk, Joseph tore Liam’s blood soaked shirt down the center to better see his
wounds.

“Dam
it! We need Doc Randall! We’re gona need some more guys to help us move him
too.”

Colin
kneeled down next to Joseph. “Ya, a lot more. Shit man, how many shots did he
take? We have to stop the bleeding and he is going to need to feed.” He counted
six bullet holes in Liam’s broad chest. With a growl of frustration he realized
two of the bullets were dam close to going straight through his heart. Blood
leaked like a faucet from the many wounds in the massive vampire’s chest,
leaving a pool beneath him. Liam groaned and his eyes rolled back in his head
for a moment as he began to lose consciousness.

“Dam
it Liam! Stay with me!” Joseph gave Liam’s granite jaw a smack.

“Alex.”
The name left Liam’s lips in a gurgle and blood trickled from the corner of his
mouth.

“I
don’t know if you want her to see you like this man.” Joseph shook his head and
was surprised when Liam fisted Joseph’s shirt in desperation.

“Shot
Alex.”

“What!”

Joseph
moved to get up but Liam’s grip on his shirt didn’t relax.

“Give
me your oath brother.” Liam’s words slurred as his eyes began to roll back in
his head.

“Liam,
you have to let go so I can check on her!” Liam’s eyes managed to focus on
Joseph for just another moment but he was going down, fast.

“Your
oath to protect her…
il mio eletto io darò a te
”
Shit, Joseph gaped at his friend. He was officially speaking the words that
would transfer the ownership of his Chosen to him. He was talking like he
didn’t expect to survive this one.

“Shit
Liam…” Dam it. He did not want this but there was no time to argue, what if he
really
didn’t
survive this one, Alex would need to be protected. With a
low growl he gave Liam the words he needed to hear. “With my life, I swear it.”

Releasing
a deep breath, Liam’s body went lax as he lost his battle with consciousness.
Colin knelt by Liam’s side already biting his own wrist and putting it to the
fallen vampires mouth. “Go Joseph. We have him.”

Pulling
free of Liam’s grip, Joseph sprang to his feet, leaving Liam in the care of the
guardians who had just entered the building. Moving faster than any mortal eye
could see he ran into the back room, searching for a glimpse of her red curls.
Fear tightened its icy grip on his heart when he realized he didn’t just smell
Liam’s blood in the room. He also scented a much sweeter blood, one that
suddenly had his fangs aching and hunger sweeping through his veins. With a
roar Joseph tossed overturned chairs out of his way as he spotted a bit of her
bright tresses trapped beneath a fallen chair.

Carefully
lifting the abandoned chair off of her small body he found her lying on her
side against the wall. Kneeling over her he carefully rolled her onto her back,
afraid of the worst. Joseph let out the breath he had unknowingly been holding
when he saw the slight rise and fall of her chest and could hear the sound of
her heart beating.

“Thank
the gods. Alex.” He cupped her chin in the palm of his hand and tried to get
her to wake up.

“Alex,
look at me baby.” Joseph gave her chin a little shake and was rewarded with a
soft groan.

“Easy
now, I’ve got you.” Very carefully Joseph gathered her into his arms and
growled at the pool of blood that lay beneath her. “Let’s get you out of here.”

Holding
her carefully cradled against his chest, Joseph made his way through the broken
room and headed for Liam’s personal office. Kicking in the door with his foot
he headed over to the leather sofa and carefully laid her down.

The
front of her Howler’s t-shirt was stained with blood. Tearing the blood stained
shirt free of her body he striped her down to her lacy black bra. Focusing on
her injuries he ignored the creamy skin rising above the lace. He found one
bullet wound in her shoulder and one in her side. He was relieved to see that
the bullet in her shoulder had cleanly exited her body and the wound at her
side was just a graze.

A
strange hunger suddenly rolled though his system, surprising him. Inhaling
deeply he found himself surrounded by the scent of strawberries and his fangs
lengthened in response.
What the hell?
The scent of Alex’s blood was
doing strange things to him. It didn’t make sense, Chosen or not, he shouldn’t
be responding to her like this. Fiercely shaking the feeling away he
concentrated on the wounds in her tender flesh.

Her
wounds were not fatal but they might be if he didn’t get the bleeding to stop.
Now that she was to be bonded to him he knew of only one way to do that
quickly. He would need to complete the bonding and fast. As his chosen his
blood would heal her, not as fast as if she were a vampire but much faster than
a human normally would. Perhaps it had been wise that Liam had given her to him
after all.

Dam
it, this was all happening too fast but what choice did he have. Both Liam’s
and Alex’s lives were at stake. Taking a deep breath he tilted her head,
exposing her neck and gently pushed her hair to the side. She had already lost
too much, he would have to make sure he only took a very small amount. “Cor
Tuum meum est,
vita vestra mia est.
Your heart
belongs to me, your life belongs to me.
”

Lowering
his lips to the soft skin of her neck he could see that Liam’s mark no longer
graced her skin. Now she would have his.  No human had ever carried his
mark before, Alex would be the first.

For
a moment he hesitated and then quickly sank his teeth deeply into her tender
skin, branding her as his property and completing the bonding.  With one
soft pull he drew a bit of her blood into himself and released his grip on her
neck as he drew back and swallowed his first taste of her. He had to be careful
not to take anymore since she was injured.

 
As he straightened he suddenly froze in shock as her sweet blood danced across
his senses.  With a gasp his eyes suddenly dilated fully silver and his
body jerked with awareness. Never in his long life had he ever tasted anything
like this. Hunger slammed through his system, demanding that he take more than
the small amount he had allowed himself. 

What
the hell? Running a shaky hand through his hair he looked down at her limp form
in confusion. Dam it! What the hell was Liam doing with this female?  This
was no ordinary human. What was Liam thinking!? Shit, and now she was
his
chosen.  What the hell had Liam gotten him involved in? 

 “Alex.
Alex, wake up.”

From
a great distance Alex could hear someone calling her name. She moved her lips
to answer but nothing came out. She was so tired. All she really wanted was to
sleep but some memory from the back of her mind was telling her something
important was happening and she needed to wake up.

“Alex.
Come on baby, open your eyes and look at me.” Joseph could see she was
struggling to surface. He could see her eyes moving behind her eyelids and she
turned her head towards the sound of his voice.

“That’s
right, open your eyes for me.” Joseph breathed a sigh of relief when she
finally open her eyes and looked at him in confusion.

“Joseph?”
Her voice sounded strange to her. God she felt terrible. Had she been sick?
What was Joseph doing in her bedroom?

“Everything’s
going to be okay. I’ve got you. Do you remember what happened?”

Alex
managed to shake her head. She had no idea what he was talking about.

“Hurts.”
All she knew was that her chest and side felt like someone was sticking a red
hot poker in her. Alex closed her eyes tightly against the pain as one single
tear escaped down her cheek.

Joseph
clenched his fist and fought the urge to go back out and dismember the son of a
bitch that had done this to her. He had to get control of himself. Shit, he was
probably already scaring her. Still transformed from his fight, his eyes had
turned completely silver and his fangs were still descended. He didn’t want to
scare her any more then he probably already had so he concentrated on making
his voice sound calm.

“I
know baby. Alex you have been shot and you’re going to be okay but you have
lost a lot of blood.” Joseph could see when her memories began to resurface.
Her beautiful hazel eyes widened and her small body began to shiver.

“You’re
safe now. No one is going to hurt you.”

“Liam!
They shot Liam!” Alex struggled uselessly to sit up and Joseph easily
restrained her.

“Don’t
move. Your wounds are still bleeding and you will only make them worse. Don’t
worry about Liam. He’s going to be fine.”
I hope.

Having
used what little bit of energy she had left, Alex began to slip back into
unconsciousness.

“
Alex,
listen to me.” He was losing her. He could see that she was fighting to even
keep her eyes open. If she passed out again he may not be able to wake her up.

 “Alex,
you need blood.” Alex looked at him but he wasn’t sure if she understood.

 “Liam,
I take from Liam.” Her voice was little more than a whisper now.

“Alex,
Liam is hurt. You’re going to have to feed from me.”

“Can’t.
Liam said… ”.

Joseph
growled in frustration and cupped her face between his large palms. He needed
to get some blood into her, now.

“Alex,
there is no time. You’re too small for this amount of blood loss.” She still
believed she was Liam’s chosen and unable to take blood from him. Little did
she know all that had changed while she had laid bleeding in that backroom. Her
loyalty was admirable but he still had to find a way to convince her. “Alex,
Liam told me to take care of you.” He could tell her resolve was beginning to
weaken. “You must feed if you want to be well enough to help him.”

Alex
wanted to deny him. Joseph didn’t understand, she couldn’t take blood from him.
She needed to get to Liam, he had done so much for her. She owed him her life.
He needed her now and she would do anything for him. It would probably make her
sick but maybe if she gave in and fed from Joseph he would finally take her to
Liam.

With
a soft nod Alex finally gave in to Joseph’s demands. Before she could change
her mind he quickly sank his own fangs into his wrist and pressed it to her
lips. Although she hesitated, after just a moment or two Joseph finally felt
her pulling gently at his wrist. The bond was now complete.

Breathing
a sigh of relief he watched her full lips pressed against his skin and clenched
his teeth as he forcibly ignored the pleasure he instinctively felt from
watching her take his blood. Completely fascinated, he watched her throat
moving as she drank weakly from his wrist.

As
she fed she once again slipped into unconsciousness. Ignoring the blood that
still seeped from his wrist he focused on checking her injuries. He had hoped
to get more blood into her system than he had but it was better than nothing.

He
breathed a sigh of relief to see the blood seeping from her wounds beginning to
slow. As he watched, her breathing began to even out. Being his Chosen his
vampire blood would now heal her but it would take some time. He just hoped
Liam would be as lucky because dam it, he had some explaining to do.

Teagan
struggled to concentrate on what Victor was saying but it was difficult. In his
mind he had already killed the bastard in front of him six different ways. The
meeting had been called to bring them all up to date on the incident at
Howler’s a few hours ago night.

Joseph
stood at the front of the office with Victor, going over the events of the
night. Apparently the attack hadn’t been related to Salvatore at all. It was
something that had to do with the bar’s owner, Liam. He was only paying
attention to bits and pieces of the conversation, he was so focused on his
rage. Something was said about a poker game and some old enemy of Liam’s.

Teagan
had never seen the vampire looking so rattled. He could smell blood on his
cloths and there were deep lines of worry creasing his forehead. While Joseph
had recounted the night’s events he lifted his hand to rub the creases between
his eyebrows. Teagan had flinched to see the recent bite wound on his wrist.
Ava.

 He
knew she would need to feed soon but he hadn’t been prepared to see her bite on
another male, especially not this particular male.

Daniel
watched Teagan curiously from the chair next to him. He could feel the rage
pouring off of him. Interesting, what had the werewolf’s control so close to
snapping? It had to have something to do with his little pet vampire. Looking
at the object of Teagan’s rage he looked Joseph over, missing no detail. Teeth
marks, interesting. He watched Teagan closely, wondering if he would actually
snap and go after the vampire during the meeting. He watched the drama play out
in front of him with barely contained glee.