The Hunt (12 page)

The locked door swings inward
to reveal the redheaded temptress. The scent of her entices and beguiles at the same time. She is not my mate, but she would be suitable for a snack. Pushing my hungry body upright on the twin sized bed, I focus my attention on the black fuzz covering her neck. What is it and why is it blocking the slow pulse I sense beneath her skin?

“Paul! Snap out of it or I’m going to slap you.”

The voice holds a note of command I cannot ignore. My body freezes in place while I struggle to make it do as I wish—to leap upon the curvy one and drink to my heart’s content.

Smack!

My head whips to the side and the force of the blow carries me to the wall at the head of the mattress.

“Paul. Look at me.”

Cool fingers rest gently against the side of my face and turn me slowly to stare into emerald-green eyes. The hunger recedes and my vision clears. A calming sense washes through my limbs and tucks the hunger back into its weak-walled cage. The image before me re-forms and I’m faced with my old boss, Vivian—the one who hired me and brought me to Alaska all those years ago.

“Vivian? What happened?”

She releases my face and steps back a bit. “Nothing, Paul. You did nothing wrong. You’re safe here in the basement. Still getting your legs under you, so to speak.”

Fear clutches me as the memories come raging back. “My family? Are they okay?”

The bed dips as Vivian takes a seat next to me. “Shush
—
they’re fine, Paul. You haven’t been home since before your shift in the kitchen yesterday.” Her hand runs up and down my back soothingly. “You’re okay and so are they.”

“How much longer will I be like this, Vivian? When will I be able to sleep at home again?”

“I can’t answer that. But, I can tell you you’re doing great.”

“Really?” I bet she’s lying just to make me feel better.

“Let’s look at this another way—have you killed anyone yet?”

A girly gasp escapes my lips before I can stop it. “No!”

“Have you drained anyone to near death? Or beaten anyone in an uncontrollable rage?”

I see where she’s going with this and I feel kind of sheepish at my initial outburst. “No,” I say, pulling my shoulders back and sitting a little taller.

“Has the hunger overtaken you so completely that you bit someone, unable to stop yourself?”

I hesitate for a moment, because there were times I almost did...

“Thinking about it doesn’t count, mind you,
actually
doing it.”

“No.”

“You’re doing much better than I did.”

The surprise coloring my voice is not forced, “Really?”

She throws her head back in a delicate, but somehow full-bellied laugh. “Oh yeah! And how,” she says, once she stops for a breath. “It was not a good point in my life. I was filled with rage and finally had the strength to do something about it.” Her composure comes back and she stares straight ahead at the wall, rather than at me. “Trust me, you’re doing better than fine.”

“I miss Bunny and the kids.”

“You see them every day, right?”

“Yeah, but not being in the house with them day in and day out makes a huge difference.”

“Would you rather be dead, Paul?”

There’s a stillness to my boss now. I have a feeling how I answer this could be very important to my continued well-being.

“At times, I miss my old way of life. I have no idea what the future holds. Cooking is hard. I can’t seem to do anything right. Every human who used to be my friend now smells like a walking buffet.” I let out a deep sigh I hadn’t known I held in me. “But, no. It’s better than being dead.”

She thumps me hard on the back and stands. “That’s what you need to keep in mind. Dead is gone. There is no coming back from it—just maybe another life waiting for you; one complete with no memories and an entirely new beginning. That is, if the whole reincarnation thing is real and not just some hookam fluke.” She turns to me with a small smile, “But we’ll never know for sure will we?”

I don’t know what I should be saying right now. If we were talking about food or the best pans to buy, then yeah, I’d have a lot to say. But metaphysical life after death stuff? It’s not something I thought about much in my happy little raising-kids-and-working lifestyle before.

“You need to feed, Paul. Let me call someone down.” She turns to the phone next to the door—after all it’s not a cell I’m in, just a really strong room for me to stay in if I were to flip out. That’s a little comforting, but not much.

“Can it be Michelle?” I ask, hope ringing in my tone.

She turns back with the phone held next to her ear. “Are you for real? Like I’m going to send you a delectable blond?” She shakes her head and turns back to the phone, “I don’t think you and Bunny have worked out you being with other women, have you?” Before I have a chance to answer her, the line is picked up on the other end. “Tommy? What male is next on the donor list? Uh-huh. Okay. Send Bob to my suite please.”

She hangs up and once again the weight of her piercing eyes skewers me in place. “Well?” she asks while raising one eyebrow.

“Um, no. We haven’t discussed me feeding from a woman yet.”

“Then you’ll be keeping your dick in your pants when you eat until you do clear it up with her. I’ll be damned if I let you cheat on the mother of your children on
my
watch.”

“It is possible for vampires to feed without sex, you know.”

“You’re preaching to the choir here, mister. Do I need to remind you how old I am?”

I look away, annoyed that she’s right and still feeling slightly petulant that I don’t get to lead the glamorous sex-filled lifestyle I thought was so common in being one of the undead.

She laughs again, and this time there’s no mistaking she’s laughing at me, but damn, I hoped I wasn’t obvious in my thoughts.

You aren’t, Paul. We are connected because I made you.

My head whips up and back to the statuesque woman before me. “Did you just speak inside my head or did I imagine it?”

She taps her finger to her mouth, drawing my attention to the fact that her lips are not moving.
I’ve done it before, in times of need. You were too far gone to notice. You can speak back to me, if you concentrate.

I’m not sure exactly what she wants me to do. Is it like thinking, only with more oomph behind it? I look to her and her face remains blank, so obviously my question didn’t get through. I gather myself, like I’m trying to bend a spoon with my mind as if I were a sideshow magician, but staring at her forehead instead.
Is this how you do it?

Yes, but calm down. You look like you’re going to crap your pants or bust a vein in your brain.

Her comment has the desired effect; I laugh and try again.
Is it still working?

Yes, you’ve got it. To stop projecting, you picture a door closing between us and then you’re safely in your own head alone.

I do as she instructs, feeling slightly stupid to be picturing a fake door closing, but she is the master, after all.

Yes, Paul. I am. You’d be wise to listen.

I picture a huge, steel-reinforced wooden gate from a castle entrance, slamming down in place, shaking the ground with its force.

“Very good, Paul. You’ll go far.”

Vivian moves gracefully to sit at the table and chair set across from my slim bed. “Do you have any questions so far about the change?”

The first thing that pops into my mind is
Yeah, when will I get to fuck my wife again?
Thankfully, I have enough sense not to just blurt it out.

“Oh, you don’t have to worry, Paul. You fairly shouted it.” At my horrified look, she laughs yet again. “I’d have the same sentiment, so trust me I feel for you.”

“I’m s-s-orry about that. I thought the door was closed.”

“You’ll get the hang of it the more you practice. You ingested over half my blood, much more than the mouthful the rest of the seethe takes. That kind of exchange, combined with the natural bond of maker, will be hard to overcome. It will diminish little by little over the years, but it evolved to be like this so I could keep track of you and any danger that might befall you.”

“Or danger to others around me, right?”

She nods in agreement and a twinkle comes into her eyes. “Do you think after a full feeding today, you might be ready to test yourself with Bunny naked?”

“Yes! What the hell kind of question is that? How many men would turn down the chance to sleep with their wife for the first time in two months?”

She smiles a toothy, wicked grin at me, “I doubt there’ll be any sleeping going on.”

A knock at the door interrupts us, which is good because I’d rather not talk to my boss about having sex with my wife. The mere thought of finally getting to see her luscious curves and hold her in my arms again is making my pants a tad bit tight.

Vivian opens the door to the broad, solid form of Bob from the ground crew. Thankfully, his bearded face and shy grin are just the ticket to deflate my growing enthusiasm.

“Hey Bob, thanks for coming. I’m going to stay because Paul is still getting the hang of things and I don’t want any issues.”

“No problem, boss. This place is cool; I never knew it was under the hotel.” He turns eager eyes my way, “Did you hear the news yet?”

“What’s that?” I say.

“Stephanie told me I’ve been selected to come in as a taster for you during part of your shift.”

Joy leaps inside me at the thought of cooking like I used to. Maybe I will get more parts of my old life back than I thought. “That’s great! I wish we’d thought of it sooner.”

“Rafe mentioned it to Stephanie and I passed her on my way here. I’m pretty stoked to earn the overtime, too.” He approaches me on the bed and…
things
get a little funny.

I’ve never thought about Bob in a sexual way, or any guy for that matter, but the recent good news—getting to make love to my wife and assigned help in the kitchen—has made me slightly aroused again. It could also be that he smells really tasty. Like steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, and peach cobbler for dessert all rolled into one. My canines descend. I have to hold myself back from leaping on him, tearing his clothes off, and pinning him down...

To drink his blood.

Obviously.

“Bob, roll up your left sleeve,” Vivian says.

“Huh? Oh, from the wrist. Okay, boss.”

Relief pours through me and I don’t risk looking up at Vivian. I’m not sure if she knows of the conflictions coursing through me right now, but I’d prefer to deny any homosexual sparks and lock them away deep.

Bob offers his pale wrist to me, and a waft of lye soap reaches up to tickle my nostrils. The steak meal scent lingers more on my palate, almost like I can taste him without breaking his skin. I take his wrist in both hands and lower my head.

The pulsations under the skin beat his excitement, tempting me to bite savagely and drink my fill. A coolness enters my brain and clarity rushes back before I sink my fangs into his flesh.

A small sound escapes Bob as I latch on and start to draw his life force into my mouth. The first swallow goes down smoothly, soothing the beast within, granting me a temporary respite from its grasping claws. Bob’s moans turn slightly sexual in nature and his body relaxes back against the wall.

At this point, his whole mind opens to me like a book, I can shift through to take, or change, what I wish. The craving to feed is so strong, I spare no time to rummage through his fascinating mind. Holding back the inner animal, the one encouraging me to keep drinking and not stop, takes all of my concentration.

The exquisite taste entices me to continue, but the calmness I felt when Vivian first entered the room settles back over my emotions, helping me to remain myself through the feeding.

“That’s enough, Paul,” Vivian says.

With reluctance, I let go, but not before my tongue slips out to remove every last trace of red and seal the small punctures.

“Very well done. Bob? Can you stand?”

“Yeah, in a second. Damn that felt good.”

Vivian approaches the bed, extending the large man a helping hand to stand. “Alley-oop. Let’s get you upstairs and you can rest on my couch.”

Bob nods his agreement and slings an arm around the woman’s slight frame.

In case the topic comes up later, he’ll think this happened upstairs in my living room, okay?
She says to me.

Smart idea. Okay.

As she moves effortlessly to the door, she calls back over her shoulder, “Call Bunny now. I’m giving you a few hours—but no biting. I’ll be down here listening if you get carried away. And I will beat your ass, so don’t mess this up.”

Satiation fills me on the basic need of food, and my body surges to respond with the promise of the next need being fulfilled. “Yes, ma’am!”

I whip out a salute she doesn’t see and scramble to the phone to call my wife. The blood pounds to my cock in a screaming rush and I think I may have to jerk off before she gets here so I don’t disappoint her. The phone rings and the love of my life picks up. “Bunny, come to the boss’s apartment in the main building, quick. Vivian says I’m finally ready to be alone with you.”

“Yee-haw, cowboy! I’ll call Debi to come stay with the kids and be there as fast as I can!” Her excited squeal as she hangs up the phone is more than enough to take me over the edge. I unzip my fly to occupy the time and prepare for her arrival.

My laughter, over some comment from Drew,
dies when Vivian comes down the hall with Bob draped over her shoulder. “Is he okay?”

Bob seems to catch himself leaning on a woman, his manliness kicks in, and he straightens, pulling away. “I’m fine, just had some trouble gaining my feet at first.”

Vivian turns her gorgeous green eyes on the man and says clearly, “You’re going to go up and lay down to rest on our living room couch for a bit, you will not remember being in the basement.”

“No problem,” Bob says and heads up the stairs.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

“Paul needed some alone time, and blood, after the scene in the cabin. He’s so young I was impressed he didn’t lick the walls when we were there.” The look on my face must be pure disgust, because she shrugs and continues. “Hey, don’t judge. I bet when you were a new wolf you needed help to make sure you didn’t eat your neighbors.”

Her observation may be true, but I don’t have to admit it. She smiles one of her all-knowing smiles at me. I can’t help but wonder if she’s reading my mind right now and, of course, already knows just how bad I was when I first changed. Sneaky bitch.

She walks over to Drew’s position near the map and glances down.

I cringe inwardly, waiting for her anger. I never know what she knows. She doesn’t look my way, so it’s a safe bet she wasn’t in my head. This mind-to-mind shit is freaking me out a bit. I need to learn how to build some walls to protect my thoughts all the time.

Maybe the doctor’s daughter, Diane, will be able to give me some advice. I heard she practices some of the local witchcraft, among other things. I can’t deny the existence of magic, even if I can’t see it like I can shifters and vampires. Hell, when I was in college I would have said all of it was crap.

“You’re having way too much fun with the map aren’t you, Drew?” Vivian asks while reaching out to pick up an eraser with the name
Stan
scrawled across it.

“I prefer to keep track of them using a live visual, rather than the computer screen,” he says. “And I thought this was better than the little Army soldiers Asa suggested.”

“Now that would have been a hoot,” I say.

Vivian tilts her head my way, looking at me where I’m leaning against the wall on the far right of the L-shaped desk. She stares and really sees me for the first time since she came into the room. Before I can blink, she’s in front of me, tilting my face to the side.

“What happened to you?” Her voice sounds calm. A deathly type of calm, if you ask me.

“Umm... I had an altercation with Emiko.”

“Report.”

I glance away, trying to break my face from her hold, but she turns me back, forcing me to stare directly into her eyes. “Tell me everything.”

Her beauty excites and scares me all at the same time—it’s always the same. I’m torn between wanting to lick her head to toe, beg at her feet for love, or run screaming into the woods. Not a good combination most days, but one I’m addicted to nonetheless. She just simply
is.

“I broke from the pack after a few hours. I’d had enough of running with them and knew I should be heading back to talk to you about investigating Melvyn’s death. I sensed I was being followed back from the west end of the property and detoured to the bowling alley to change back in case I needed to confront my tail.” I take a deep breath and relax into her hold. Her grip loosens until she’s gently caressing the side of my face, like a lover after a sweaty romp. “It was Emiko and she attacked me. She was determined to have some wolf blood and I couldn’t get her to see reason.”

Vivian releases my face, leaning in to sniff near my neck. The lack of emotion on her face only confirms what I knew in the bowling alley: if Emiko had bitten me, she’d be dead with no one ever knowing the truth behind the allegations in Argentina or who may be behind the orchestration on the Tribunal. Light hands rest on my shoulders before moving slowly to my back.

Vivian presses herself to me in a soft hug, barely skimming the front of my body while leaning in to whisper, “You are mine.” The possessiveness in her tone is surprising; this is a side she doesn’t normally share with me. “If she, or anyone, touches you—I will kill them. You know that, right?”

The hair on my body stands at attention, the nearness of the object of my desire is almost more than I can handle. I want so badly to wrap myself around her and rub in her scent. But I know I can’t. She may be my pack, but she is not my lover. Lingering traces of Rafe cling to her skin.

A shaky breath leaves me as she steps back, taking her delectable fragrance away as well. “Yes, I know.”

Her head tilts curiously to the side, “How did you elude her?”

“Asa.”

Her features sharpen a bit and close down at his name. I wonder what brought the reaction on. “Go on.”

“He came in when she had me pinned, and trust me, no matter what I said, she wasn’t going to stop. It was like she didn’t hear or care.”

“She could have an old addiction she’s recovering from. It happens a lot.”

Which I knew well, it was one of the reasons I steered clear of the main building as much as possible.

“Does this put her back on as a suspect with Melvyn?” Drew asks.

“I don’t think so, but we’ll discuss it with the whole group.” Another thought occurs to her and she looks me square in the face again. “Are you telling me Asa beat her in a fair fight?”

“Umm... no, not exactly.”

She whirls and turns away, moving to sit in a chair in front of the monitors. Raising one elegant eyebrow, she silently urges me to keep going.

“They fought. He told me to run while he took a beating. I hid, in case things went south for him and he needed help, but she had other ideas.” I break away from her gaze and look over to Drew. He’s listening, but not jumping in, which is good. “She toyed with him for a while and then drank from him instead.”

My look away must have been my “tell” because she doesn’t let the subject drop. “You’re not sharing everything.”

Know-it-all vamp. Damn, is she in my head again? I sneak a look back at her, but again, her expression reveals nothing. “She forced him to have sex, but after the first minute or so I don’t think it was forced anymore.”

Her eyes seem to darken to the deep green of pines, “Rape is rape. Men can’t help their body’s natural reaction to stimulus.” She crushes the chair arms in a tight grip; the plastic gives in a resounding crack before she lets go. “Where is he now?”

“Rafe gave him an assignment to track her on the property and he’s following through.”

She grunts and stands. “Fine. I’ll talk to him later.” Vivian begins her customary angry pacing back and forth in the tight area. It’s one of the signs she’s trying to regain control of her inner demons and if it works, then hey, I sure as hell don’t plan to stop her.

“We need to get a handle on the slaughter of the loner wolf in cabin two before the hunters come back to refuel. They’ll sniff out his death, as well as Bebe’s, on their return and I bet their tempers will be high.” She stops to pin me with her gaze. “Jon, you need to head out and investigate the area surrounding the cabin and the hotel before they tromp through all the scent trails, okay?”

“Your wish is my command, oh curvy-sexy-one.”

“Drew—you rustle up the locations of the rest of the hunters via the GPS in their phones and call me with a report.”

“Yes, master,” Drew replies. Kind of freaks me out when he calls her that. I shoot him a look that asks
what are you, a dork
and he ignores me with dead eyes.

She storms up the stairs, almost flying in her pent-up rage and energy.

“Does she scare you sometimes, too?” I ask.

He shakes his head and scoots his chair back to the monitors, pushing the broken one out of his way. “Why do you think I call her ‘master’? For shits-n-giggles?”

Can’t argue with that, so I gather my hunting coat and head up to the apartment. Vivian is already gone; the scent of her lingers in the kitchen by the table where Rafe sits alone. “Can I change here and you’ll open the door for me? Viv wants me scouting for clues and my wolf nose will do the job better.”

“Sure thing, man. You can use the office.”

I turn to the broken door in the hall, “What happened here?”

“Nothing you need to worry about.”

Fucking prick. “Okay.”

I head in and strip, tossing my clothes on the leather couch. With a flexing of will I call my beast. A spine-tingling rush of energy starts the change rolling over me, bowing my spine, forcing me to the floor. Fur ripples across my skin and the pain of my bones realigning feels excruciating, but the process ends quickly.

The recent sexual activities in the room from the married couple come crashing into my sensitive senses with the subtlety of a beer burp at frat party. Vivian’s essence is heavy in the room, its perfection marred only by the tainted
human
she’s married to. I lower my nose to the Persian rug and my lip peels back from my teeth in derision.

She should be mine!

A growl sounds deep in my chest, rumbling to the surface and breaking the silence in the room. The thought comes from my wolf half, and I struggle to maintain control and push the basic alpha tendencies deep inside. They don’t apply here and my inner wolf still has trouble accepting it.

Some day soon he’ll run free with his mate, but that mate will never be the sultry redheaded vamp.

I pad quietly into the kitchen and use every ounce of strength within me not to bite the son-of-a-bitch at the table. On a human level he’s okay enough, but he isn’t a wolf and my instincts call out that he shouldn’t be a pack member and above me in rank as well. The desire to make him submit and show me his throat in surrender almost overwhelms my inner need to follow Vivian’s requests... but in the end, I am victor and I don’t spare Rafe a second glance as I head for the door.

“That was quick. Let me get the door.”

I step back as the large man opens the exit for me, bolting past him and away from the smells of their recent lovemaking as fast as I can. The blackness of the night isn’t nearly as deep here as it is out at my cabin. The landscaping lights show the first glimmer of an artificial dawn, and decorative twinkling lights festoon the pergolas and shrubbery throughout the hot tub area.

My long legs and four paws eat up the distance to cabin number two, and in a moment, I’m standing outside where the seethe gathered a few hours ago. After a few minutes, I pick out an undead scent that doesn’t match anyone in our group who came to investigate. Following the trail, I’m led back the way I came.

A meandering path leads me to one of the tucked-away spas, farthest from any of the doors in the west and north wings, and used the least by guests and employees for this reason. The trail ends at the tub itself. Whether the killer jumped in to wash the blood off or not can’t be determined until the lid is lifted and the water tested.

Do I change here and check by lifting the lid in my human form or do I go inside, change and come back fully clothed to do the job? Nose to the ground, I decide to look for the trail leading from the tub back to one of the doors before deciding.

A bromine-covered vampire scent leads away from the hot tub and to an exit at the end of the north wing. The entrance requires a key card to get in. The vampire must not have had one, because the scent leads around the north wing, through the stone garden to the pool entrance in the east wing—the entrance where the lock has been disabled because it’s set up as the designated spot for the hunters to enter and exit through.

I’ve sensed this vampire before, but I can’t place a face to him or her. You can bet I’ll know it when I run into them again. Nose to the ground, I follow the fading trail.

A blur of motion through the two-story insulated glass of the pool wing draws my eye. A flash of copper hair and toned white arms cut the surface of the water in a one-man race down the length of the pool. Vivian looks to be burning off some of her anger, which is a good thing, I know.

Her hourglass body rises from the surface at the end of the lap to stand next to the water. She reaches for a towel and I have a moment to admire her naked form before she covers it with a towel. A whine escapes me, the wolf wanting to be near his pack-mate and making himself heard. Her head whips around to the glass wall and I bolt into the darkness.

Not wanting to face Rafe again, or the sex scene in the office, I head back to my cabin to get fresh clothes. There is much to report to the loving couple.