“Yeah, but all the men in this room are,” I pointed out.
Cash laughed, Owen shrugged in agreement, and Maximus gave a low growl beside me.
“I’m out,” Jett said with another mock salute. “I’ll see you when you reach my clan.”
I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d ever accept me as his mate, and if he didn’t, what kinds of problems that might cause.
19
Ariana
I tilted my head back and groaned as the savory taste of hollandaise sauce filled my mouth. Oh, the things I’d been missing out on while in the pits. Not only had I missed out on four utterly gorgeous mates for the last decade or so, I’d also missed out on fast cars, sex, and eggs benedict.
Ask me yesterday, and I would have said the thing I’d most missed out on was my sexy mates. Today? I wasn’t so sure.
“Enjoying yourself?” Cash chuckled as he walked into the kitchen.
I looked up from my plate and gulped down the lump of eggs I’d been salivating over. “Yes.”
He took a seat on the stool next to me. The chef flashed a quick grin and nodded a greeting before he returned to making his boss a serving of his own.
“You’re leaving on the rest of your tour today, right?” Cash asked.
“You’re not coming?” I asked before taking another bite. This time I restrained my moan—just barely.
Cash sighed. “I wish I could. Urgent Dragon Council business calls.”
I took a sip of freshly squeezed orange juice before answering. “That’s unfortunate.”
A loud yawn broke through the constant sizzling on the stove, and we turned to find Owen slipping into the kitchen with a red plaid shirt hanging loose over a tight grey t-shirt. He stretched and ran a hand through his hair. I couldn’t help but eye the tautness of his shirt over his sculpted pecs. Now I was licking my lips for a whole other reason.
“Good morning,” he said, flashing me a lopsided grin before he took the stool on my other side. “Maximus isn’t up yet?”
“He said he had a few calls to make.” I gestured toward the living room, the direction in which Maximus had taken off.
Owen nodded in understanding before twining his hand in the hair at the base of my neck and pulling me toward him. He kissed the top of my head before releasing me. My heart fluttered and warmth coiled in my belly.
“Time to go.” Maximus appeared in the doorway, his cellphone still in hand and a troubled look on his face.
“What’s going on?” I asked. Unease filled our bond, and my appetite waned.
“Jett sent another update about the vampire situation. Something is brewing, but he isn’t sure what.”
The warmth in my stomach cooled. My hand went to my neck, and I tried to suppress a shiver as I recalled the feeling of being bitten by the bloodsuckers.
Owen laid a large hand on the small of my back, comforting me somewhat. “As long as we take the backroads like we planned, we should be fine.”
Maximus nodded. “Yeah. We don’t want any vamps catching your scent, Ariana.”
My fingers tightened around the hem of my sweater. Apparently, Cash had some women’s clothes just lying around, perfectly my size. Apparently, he had a type.
“I’ve got to take off now too,” Cash said. “I’ll meet up with you tonight.”
I reached out and squeezed his hand as he slid off the stool beside me. “Be careful.”
Cash smiled and leaned in for a quick kiss. Though it lasted only a second, it warmed me to my core.
“Ready?” Maximus asked, shifting uncomfortably. He’d verbally agreed to my need for four mates, but I could tell he hadn’t fully accepted the truth of it yet. He definitely hadn’t liked seeing Cash kiss me—or feeling my reaction to it. Still, he hadn’t tried to stop us, or ripped Cash’s head off, so we were making progress. If I wanted to keep peace not just between clans but in my own life, I’d have to be more sensitive to my mates’ feelings about sharing until we were all settled into our relationship.
For now, though, I had less personal concerns to occupy my thoughts. I took a deep breath and forced an easy smile. “Yeah. Let’s head out.”
“There aren’t any vampire hangouts on the way to bear territory,” Owen said. “We should be safe.”
That made me feel better. Maybe we’d get lucky and escape to bear territory unharmed.
The car rumbled beneath me as we pulled through the back streets headed toward the bridge out of town. So Maximus wasn’t the only one with a clan outside the city. If that was true, then I wondered why Cash chose to stay in the city. Wait. That was easy. Cash loved fast cars and shiny things. Of course he liked the city.
“When was the last time you were in bear territory?” Owen asked Maximus from the back seat. Today, we rode together in a black sedan with tinted windows. It was the most inconspicuous car Cash owned and the least likely to be picked out by the vampires. Or so we hoped.
“It’s been awhile,” Maximus said. He glanced at Owen in the rearview mirror. “Maybe a decade ago?”
My eyebrows furrowed. “So you were like fifteen?”
Again, Maximus and Owen exchanged a look in the mirror. “Not exactly,” Maximus said.
“How old were you?” I asked. Come to think of it, how exactly did most shifters age? I seemed to age as fast as anyone else, but Maximus didn’t look much older than me. From what I’d heard from Cash, dragons lived for a long time. The Silver Shifter showed up every hundred years and married the alpha of that clan. So the Silver Dragon had married the dragon alpha, who was Cash’s dad, almost a hundred years ago. I wasn’t sure how I felt about a ninety-year-old guy taking my virginity, but it was a little late to think of that now.
Maximus chuckled. “A little older than fifteen.”
I crossed my arms. Well, that was a disappointing answer.
“He’s just being shy,” Owen teased from the back seat.
“He’s something all right,” I said.
The squeal of tires pulled my attention back to the street.
“Ariana!” Maximus shouted. His arm slammed against my chest, pushing me into the seat.
A crash jolted through the entire car, sending us flying. A tiny scream escaped me, and I tried to cling to my seat as the sound of tearing metal screeched through the interior.
Ringing filled my ears from the terrible sound, and I fought the urge to clamp my hands over them. A black SUV pulled up outside as the one that hit us slammed on the gas. The smell of burned rubber flew up my nose as the SUV pushed us across the street. I ground my teeth as the noise only got louder, and then my heart leapt into my throat. The car beneath us shifted, and my entire world flew in a loop as we rolled off the road and into the ditch.
I braced my palms against the dashboard, a scream caught in my throat. The windshield shattered, and shards cut my cheeks. I inhaled sharply and squeezed my eyes closed. Bits of plastic, metal and glass battered my body and my seatbelt dug into my torso so hard I was sure it’d bruise.
The pressure of Maximus's arm disappeared, and my stomach bottomed out like I was riding in Cash’s Ferrari again. My breath was torn from my lungs, and I held onto my seatbelt as another crash and screech filled my ears. Pain tore through my skull as something hard collided with it. A wave of dizziness and nausea hit me, and then blackness swallowed me.
20
Ariana
Wind buffeted my ears, and silver hair whipped my face and shoulders as I came to. I blinked slowly, clawing my way from the darkness behind my eyelids. My eyebrows furrowed as I registered cold, hard concrete beneath me. Why was I lying on the ground? Had I been thrown from the car? That couldn’t be right. I’d been wearing a seatbelt.
Confusion filled me as I opened my eyes. My hair filled most of my vision, but beyond that I could see the slab of concrete I was lying on, and then the rooftops of skyscrapers.
What the hell was going on?
I tried to move, but everything hurt. I groaned and squeezed my eyes shut a
s pain shot up my knees. I must have hit them on the dash of the car when we crashed. Or when someone crashed into us.
My breath caught. Wait. Maximus and Owen were with me in that car.
I opened my eyes to find a dark clouded sky. My breaths turned into pants as my heart raced. My mates. Where were they?
Despite the pain, I twisted onto my stomach so I could push up onto my knees and stand. Before I could, I froze. A few feet away, six men and women with deathly pale skin stood facing my mate.
Maximus groaned as he curled on the ground. Thick chains shackled his wrists and ankles. Considering he hadn’t torn free, I knew they had to be silver. One of the vampires held a long silver dagger, blood dripping from its tip.
No. No, no, no. If they’d cut him with silver, it would poison him. He needed help now!
Pain tore through our bond and then panic as Maximus realized I was awake.
“Maximus,” I said. I pushed myself onto my knees, cursing my shifter healing for not working fast enough. “Maximus.”
One of the female vampires pulled back and delivered a swift kick to Maximus's spine. Anger rolled through me, burning a path straight to my wolf. She snarled to life, pushing at my skin for release.
“Oh, the little Silver Shifter is awake,” a male voice said.
I turned to see a man with shoulder-length black hair smirking at me. His eyes flashed red, and twin fangs poked his bottom lip. He’d fit the definition of classically handsome—straight out of a Victorian romance novel. But the bloodthirsty look in his eyes sent a shiver down my spine.
“Who the hell are you?” I growled. I clenched my fists and forced myself to my feet. Heavy winds buffeted my sides, and I stumbled, barely able to get my feet under me before I crashed to the ground again.
“Viktor Bancroft.” The vampire gave me a mocking bow. His grin spread so wide when he straightened that he displayed his teeth. “A pleasure to meet you, Silver Shifter.”
The other vampires had stepped away, snarling and hissing at me like I was poison.
To them, I was.
“Wish I could say the same,” I said. My hands fisted at my sides. I could barely feel Maximus. His consciousness flickered in and out from the beating they’d delivered, and worse, the silver tainting his blood. If these vampires thought they were getting out of this alive, they were damn wrong. Not only had they kidnapped us, but they’d hurt my mate, and that was unforgivable.
Viktor chuckled. “You’re a feisty one. No wonder the alphas like you.”
My gaze snapped back to the vampire. What did he know about the alphas? Had Jett been coluding with them the whole time?
“I see you’re confused,” Viktor continued. “Don’t worry, you won’t be for much longer.” He held his hands behind his back and circled me like a wolf stalking its prey.
I suddenly felt like I was back in the pits with the vampire gatekeepers rattling our cages and sticking silver clubs inside to provoke us. I took a deep breath. I wasn’t going to take the bait.
He frowned when I didn’t. “Don’t you want to know why you’re here?”
“I’m the cure for vampirism. Why else would I be here?”
His sadistic grin returned. “Smart girl. I like that.”
I turned to face him. I didn’t want to take my eyes off him even as he circled me. “So, you’re what? The big bad villain at the end of the Disney movie?” I tried to distract him while my mind raced to come up with a way out of this.
Six vampires. Two of us.
My heart skipped a beat. Owen. Where was he? He’d been in the car with us. I took a quick look around the roof, but he was nowhere to be found.
“Something like that,” Viktor said. “Maybe the boss of the big bad.”
“Uh huh. So you’re the Evil Queen, and these are your huntsmen?” I took a steadying breath. Calm down, Ari. We need to find a way out of this.
Viktor tilted his head back and laughed. “Oh my, you are a treat. It’s too bad you’re a filthy mutt with venom in your veins. I’d love to have a taste of you. The vampire you turned said your blood was just divine.” He eyed my neck. I had to actively resist covering it with my hands.
“Too bad,” I said. There was a rooftop exit about fifteen feet away. If Maximus could stay awake long enough to distract at least two, I might be able to get the upper hand on Viktor here and surprise them all into a quick death by my wolf’s teeth before getting rid of the ones guarding Maximus. They couldn’t bite me if they wanted to stay vampires. All they could do was toss me around a little.
“Forgive me, I’m wasting your last moments.” Viktor smirked. “I’m sorry to say that you cannot exist, not while vampires walk the earth. You endanger us all with your blood, so we need to eradicate you.”
“I don’t suppose you’d reconsider?” I kept talking while trying to catch Maximus's attention. He was up on all fours now, but from the way he was holding his stomach, he had to be severely injured. I could feel it. When I paused to sink into the bond, I could feel Maximus's pain as if it were my own. Every breath was agony, tearing through his chest. They must have stabbed his stomach or lung.
Shit. He wasn’t going to be able to help me like that.
Viktor chuckled. “Wish I could, dearie. But the Lamia Queen has sentenced you to death.”
“The who?”
“So naive. So ignorant.” Viktor stepped closer, and I instinctively stepped back. He smiled as I did. Each step drove me further from Maximus and closer to the edge of the roof.
I was literally backing myself into a corner. I had to stop. The next time Viktor stepped forward, I steeled myself and remained motionless. His smile turned into a frown. He stepped forward again, and again, but I didn’t let him back me any closer to the edge.
“Say goodbye to your precious pet, alpha,” Viktor said over his shoulder.
Maximus looked up, his eyes flashing yellow and pain twisting his expression. He lurched from his knees up onto one foot. “A-Ariana.”
My heart raced. “Maximus. It’s okay. I’m going to get us out of this.”
Viktor closed the distance between us, his hand wrapping around my throat. I gasped and pulled back, but his fingers clamped tighter until I fought to breathe. “No, you aren’t, Silver Shifter.”
I tore at his fingers as he continued to put pressure on my neck. He lifted me, and I clawed at his fingers. My wolf howled for freedom. I took one last breath, ready to let her take over.
Viktor threw me. I sailed through the air, wind pounding against my eardrums. I twisted to get my hands under me before I crashed into the building. But as I turned, the lip of the roof appeared, and I sailed right passed it.
What had to be nearly a hundred stories below lay the streets of New York City.
My heart stopped as I looked death in the face. Only it wasn’t an opponent like I’d always thought. It wasn’t another shifter in the pits or a vampire tearing out my throat—it was a fall that no one could survive.
As I plummeted toward the ground, fear shot through my every limb like a geyser.
Maximus's panic and anguish joined mine, and I thought of all the things we’d miss out on. I’d never really know my mates or what life could be like when I was free. I’d only been free from my endless torment for a few weeks, and it was all about to be stolen away from me.
Fury replaced my fear, and heat burned through my veins. It wasn’t fair. My whole life had been survival. Fight to survive. Fight to eat. Fight because there was nothing left. And now I didn’t need to fight anymore. Or so I had hoped.
My fingers tightened into fists as the ground came up at me all too fast. I squeezed my eyes shut and pictured my mates. Maximus. Owen. Cash. Even Jett.
As the image of the dragon shifter sailed through my mind, my blood began to burn. Fire tore through my entire being, heating me from the inside out. I opened my eyes only to see red. A scream tore from my throat, and then I felt it. The change. But instead of a wolf tearing from my skin, it was something
else. My wolf wasn’t a wolf anymore, but a beast.
The beast writhed inside of me and clawed at my control, demanding I free her. With the fiery pain enveloping me, I let the beast out.
For a second, there was only blackness. I thought I’d finally hit the ground, and this was death. There was no afterlife—when you died you were just gone. But the next instant my eyes opened and the windows of the skyscraper were still sailing past.
Rage was all I felt as my wings pushed me up into the sky.
Wait. Wings?
The beast took over, pulling me through the air until we flew over the lip of the roof. There, lying on the concrete was our mate. Blood poured from the corner of Maximus's mouth and his abdomen, pooling around him. One of the vampires grabbed his arm and dragged him up. That was all it took for my beast to crash down on the edge of the building.
A roar tore from my throat, vibrating through my very soul. How dare they harm my mate? How dare they try to kill me and what was mine?
The vampires turned to face me, eyes wide and mouths agape. Good. Let them be afraid. Let my beast be the last thing they saw before I tore them to pieces.
My chest rumbled with a growl, and heat burned in my throat. I pushed back onto my hind legs, flapping my enormous silver wings. The vampires lifted their arms to block the wind, but there was no blocking my fire.
Heat poured from my mouth, and fire tore across the roof of the building. The closest of the vampires was caught in the blast. As fire consumed her, she screamed before turning to ash.
The vampires reared back, but one more was caught in the death my flames provided. A male leapt at me with the speed only a vampire could conjure. I snarled and whipped in a circle. My tail thrashed into his side. I heard the cracks of a hundred bones, and then his body was sailing through the air, over the skyscrapers of New York.
I spun back around as a bite of pain snapped through my front leg. Flames poured from my mouth, over my scales, and dusted the bloodsucker.
Her Wolf: A Why Choose Urban Fantasy Romance (Silver Shifter Book 1) Page 13
