And that was the last thing she remembered.
Jeff Schultz hit the button on his phone to stop the recording and played it back just to make sure he hadn’t imagined things. But there, on his screen, was a fight and what looked like a woman killing a man who’d tried to mug her.
It was dark with minimal lighting in the alley, so Jeff couldn’t be sure if the man was dead or not, but there was no mistaking the way the woman had practically ripped the guy’s throat out.
His video was TMZ gold.
Jeff turned off his video, sent his friends a text to cancel their plans, and ran back to his car. And, to think, he’d been pissed about having to park so far away. In the end, it was the best thing that had happened to him in a long time. He was going to sell his little video for lots of money, and maybe he’d finally be able to pay back his illegal loan.
Chapter 7
Saxon knocked on Ram’s door.
“What?” his deep voice grumbled from the other side.
“It’s time to get up. We have to go soon.”
“Give me five.”
Saxon waited in the kitchen, and true to his word, Ram came out five minutes later.
They were working together tonight, and Saxon appreciated Ram’s punctuality because he was ready to go.
Saxon had restrained himself from knocking down Demi’s door last night and scaring her. But his patience had gotten him nothing because, when he’d gone there this morning, no one had been home.
He’d gone back around noon, but the house had still been empty. He’d reluctantly gone back home to take a nap before he went out on patrol tonight, and now, he was itching to go. It was after nine, and Demi had to come home sometime. He wanted to talk to her about her secret he’d discovered.
“You ready?” Saxon asked the vampire.
“Yep.” He grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl and headed for the door.
The two of them climbed into Saxon’s SUV and took off.
“Where are we supposed to go first?” Saxon asked Ram.
Ram grabbed his phone and pulled up a list of locations that had been listed as having suspicious activity. There was always a running list of things to look into that the shifters and vampires kept. The list came from members of their species calling into a hotline of sorts that they’d set up and a website they’d recently started. Most things were nothing, but they always had to follow up to make sure neither group was outed to humans.
They were over halfway to their first stop of the night when Saxon’s phone rang. He didn’t recognize it, but it was a local number.
“Saxon,” he said by way of a greeting.
“Oh, thank God. I was afraid you wouldn’t answer,” a woman said on the other side.
He didn’t recognize her voice. “I’m sorry, who is this?”
“My name is Siya. I’m Demi’s friend. She’s in trouble, and she asked me to call you.”
Saxon’s instincts went on high alert, as did Ram’s. The vampire could probably feel the emotions coming off him.
“Where are you?” Saxon asked and took the next corner a little too fast.
“Red Cow. North Loop location.”
“We’ll be there in less than ten.”
He hung up and threw his phone in the center console. It was a minute later he realized that he hadn’t gotten any information and had no idea what he and Ram were walking into.
Siya Patel paced back and forth in front of Demi and the guy who’d tried to rob them. She continued to monitor and check on her friend, but she was too wired to sit and wait quietly for Demi’s booty call to show up.
Siya really hoped that Demi had told her to make the right call—no pun intended. But, really, there was no other choice. She couldn’t call the police. Yes, it had been self-defense, but there was no way to explain what looked like an animal attack in the middle of a large city. They would think Demi had used some kind of weapon.
And Demi needed more medical help than Siya could provide. If only she’d gone to medical school like her parents wanted instead of rebelling by becoming a nurse.
Siya just hoped this Saxon guy could help and that he hurried up. She had managed to pull Demi and the body into the shadows, but someone was bound to walk down the alley at some point.
She had built up a sweat from the physical labor, but since she had used her shirt to tie off Demi’s wound, the night air was starting to feel cool against her damp skin. Her hands were also clammy from fear.
Demi’s phone rang in her hand, and she nearly dropped it because it’d scared the crap out of her.
It took her three times to swipe it correctly in order to answer.
“Where are you?” the deep voice on the other end said.
She’d only talked to Saxon once, but she already knew this wasn’t the same person despite the phone’s display saying it was him calling.
“In the alley.”
“We’re here,” the man said and hung up.
A second later, a black SUV came barreling toward her. She sure hoped it was the guy on the phone as she stepped in front of the vehicle, waved her arms, and hoped her boobs didn’t fall out of her bra.
They came to a stop about five feet in front of her, and two large men got out. She could only make out their forms with the headlights shining on her eyes.
“Siya?” the driver asked.
“That’s me.”
“Where is she?” he asked.
Siya knew he meant Demi, so she pointed to the wall behind her. “Over there.”
The two came around the front, and she could see them better. Both were tall, as she’d already noted, and muscular. Two someones she—ironically—wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley.
The driver had to be Saxon since Demi had described his two-toned hair to her. He immediately went around Siya and over to Demi.
The other guy was freaking intimidating. He had yellow eyes and a face that said he was all business.
He looked her up and down and pulled his dark T-shirt off. “Put this on,” he said as he handed it to her.
“Thank you.” She pulled it over her head. It was warm from his body and went almost to her knees. She could wear it as a dress.
“I’m Ram. What happened?” the now-shirtless and very ripped man asked.
“We were leaving the restaurant. This guy came out with a knife and demanded we hand over our purses. I wanted to give them to the guy, but Demi fought him. He stabbed her in the side, but she, um…killed him.”
Ram walked past her to the man and tried to find a pulse. “He’s dead all right.”
Both men straightened, and Saxon pulled out his cell phone. He pushed a couple of buttons and put it to his ear. “Yeah, it’s Saxon. We need all hands on deck. The alley next to the Red Cow, North Loop location.” Saxon hung up.
“Who are you guys?” Siya asked, mystified.
Saxon tilted his head. “That depends. Do you know what Demi is?”
Siya looked back and forth between the two men, not sure if she should say anything.
“Let’s put it this way,” Saxon said. “Do you know how this guy died? How he got these marks on his neck?”
Apparently, the cat was out of the bag—again, no pun intended.
“She shifted. Or her hands did anyway. It’s only ever happened once before.”
“When?”
Siya’s eyes widened. She didn’t really want to say it out loud, but if he wanted to know, she’d tell him. “Uh…last Friday…when you two were, you know…in back of the club.”
Ram looked at Saxon. “Behind the club? You’ve been holding out.”
“Shut up,” Saxon responded without much heat. “I need to get Demi to the infirmary. Can you bring Siya back to the bunkhouse?”
She brought her arms up and waved them back and forth. “Hey, I’m not going anywhere. And Demi needs to go to a hospital.”
“No, Demi needs to go to the shifter infirmary. And you can go home after we talk to you. We need to m
ake sure the situation is handled completely. For your friend’s sake,” Saxon said. “Don’t you agree?”
The man had a point, but she didn’t know either of them. She looked down at Demi. But her friend had trusted Saxon enough when she knew she was losing consciousness. “Okay.”
Saxon picked up Demi without any effort, and Ram opened the back of the SUV, so Saxon could put her in the back.
“She smells like you, man,” Ram said. “Did you mark her or something?”
“No,” Saxon said and got behind the wheel and took off, leaving Siya alone with Ram.
Chapter 8
“Where’s your car?” Ram Warin asked the little human in front of him.
Her big brown eyes showed every emotion that was in her head, and he liked that he didn’t have to guess what she was thinking.
“What about the body?”
The corner of Ram’s mouth lifted. “We’re not going to leave until backup gets here.”
“Oh.” She pointed behind her. “Back there. But you should know that Demi drove, too. Should we each take a car? I can follow you.”
Ram stepped close and picked up Siya’s arm. “You cut yourself.” He hadn’t noticed with all the other blood that had been spilled that night.
She pulled her arm toward her, so she could see. “Oh. I didn’t even know.”
Ram picked up her arm again and licked her wound. Her blood was bitter, the opposite of vampire blood, but surprisingly, it didn’t taste unappealing. It reminded him of grapefruit. He licked her wound again to make sure he got the whole thing—and to taste her once more. He kind of liked it.
Siya yanked her arm back. “What are you doing?” she asked, her voice full of alarm.
“Healing your wound.”
Her brow furrowed. “Shifters can do that?”
“No. I’m a vampire.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re a vampire?”
Shit.
“Oh. Yeah. I guess I thought you knew.”
She shook her head as headlights appeared in the alley. Three SUVs pulled up, and cat-shifter sentinels Tegan, Camden, and Vaughn got out along with Kendall, the wolf-shifter who lived with the cats.
Vance, the cat-shifter alpha, was the last to exit the vehicle, and he immediately assessed the situation. “Camden and Kendall, I want you to take the body up north and work him over. I want the authorities to be confused about whether a wolf or bobcat went after him.” He turned to Ram. “You’re bringing that young lady back?”
Ram saw Siya frown at the name. “Yes. But we have two cars. I’ll drive Siya’s.”
“Tegan, can you take the other?” Vance asked.
“On it.”
“Oh, and call Reid on your way back and ask him to look into security cameras around the area and wipe them if necessary.”
“Got it.” He looked at Siya. “Keys?”
“Oh, yeah.” She went over to the wall of the building and picked up two purses. She rummaged around in one of them and pulled out a set of keys. “Here you go,” she said and brought them over to Tegan. “She parked back there,” Siya said. “Not sure where.”
Tegan smiled. “I’ll figure it out. What kind of car?”
Siya told her, and Tegan took off.
“You two, go,” Vance said. “Vaughn and I will clean up the mess.”
“Thank you,” Siya said.
Vance smiled warmly. “You’re welcome.”
Ram took Siya’s hand. “Let’s go.”
Chapter 9
Kendall Walker followed Camden into the middle of the trees to dump the body they’d been ordered to bring up there. She was getting bored, and her eyes wandered down to Camden’s strong backside.
The blond cat-shifter turned easily despite the weight he carried on one shoulder. “Are you staring at my ass?”
“Yes. I’m bored, and the outdoor scenery is the same thing over and over. Trees, trees, and more trees.”
Camden swung back around and continued forward. “Yeah, that’s probably a good sign that we can stop.” He leaned forward, dropping the dead weight to the ground.
Kendall came up to stand beside him. “I feel bad. This human was someone’s son.”
Camden shrugged. “Yeah, but it was self-defense. And we can’t let anyone find out about us. It’s really the only way. Someone will find him eventually.”
“It’s sad that no one will probably miss him.”
Camden looked over at her. “It is, but we didn’t choose his life for him, Kendall.”
She sighed. “You’re right.”
“You’re not usually this sentimental.”
“I know.” She lowered her voice. “I think it’s hormones. My heat is coming.”
“Aw.”
She didn’t want his male sympathy even if it was coming from a caring place. “Let’s do this.”
Camden reached for his shirt.
“Wait,” she said.
“Why?”
“Let’s go a bit away before we take off our clothes. It wouldn’t be wise to leave them near the body in case they look for evidence of foul play.”
“Smart,” Camden said. “Let’s go this way.”
Kendall followed until Camden stopped. “Far enough?”
“Yeah.” She pulled off her top and kicked off her pants.
She looked over at Camden as she took off her underwear and bra. He was already naked, and her eyes strayed to his dick. It was long and thick despite his flaccid state.
But it soon shortened as Camden shifted into his cat form.
I’m definitely near my heat, she thought as she shifted into her wolf.
The two of them headed back for the body. When they reached it, they both stopped and stared at each other.
Kendall barked, telling Camden to go first. The human smelled like body odor, drugs, and now death. She was going to do as little of the damage as possible and hoped Camden would do most of the work.
Camden showed her an impressive set of canines and shook his big tan head, but he stepped forward and bit down on the body.
Kendall watched for a few minutes before she stepped in to help. She used her claws more than her teeth whenever possible, but it was unavoidable.
She felt like throwing up. She was going to go home, brush her teeth for an hour, and shower for another.
Kendall stepped back from the body. It looked well and mangled, and a few days in the summer heat would also do some damage.
A nudge to her side had her turning to Camden. Once he had her attention, he took off running, and she followed. They continued past their pile of clothes and kept going.
She didn’t know how long they ran, but soon, a small body of water appeared before them. Kendall jumped in, mouth open. Once her body was submerged under the water, she shifted back to her human form and sprang up from under the water.
A few seconds later, Camden did the same.
She wrinkled up her nose. “That was disgusting.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Thanks for bringing me here to rinse off.”
“No problem.”
“How did you know this was here?” she asked.
Camden walked over to the edge and sat down. “I’ve been up here a few times when I wanted to be alone.”
“Yeah, it gets to be much sometimes, living with so many people.”
“Are you doing okay, living with us?”
It might seem like an odd question to ask when they were both naked, but they were shifters. Nakedness came with the territory.
“Yeah. Everyone’s been nice.”
Camden laughed. “You’ll feel like one of the group soon.”
“How do you know I don’t already?”
“Because that was way too polite an answer.”
Kendall smiled. “You’re too smart.”
“Nah.” Camden lay back and stared at the night sky. “I was just new once.”
“I’ve been living with you all for months.”
Th
e corners of Camden’s mouth turned up. “But you’re still new. Or at least, you feel that way.”
“True.” Kendall came out of the water, feeling much cleaner, and lay beside him. The stars looked beautiful, and it was very peaceful. “How long do we have before we should get back?”
“I think a few more minutes wouldn’t hurt.”
Before long, the two of them dozed off. Kendall woke to find herself snuggled against Camden along with his arm around her. She gently rolled away, waking Camden in the process.
He rubbed a hand over his face. “Holy shit. How long did I sleep?”
Kendall sat up. “I have no idea. I fell asleep, too.” She ran her hand over her dark locks. “My hair’s still damp, so probably not too long.”
Camden got up on his hands and knees. “You ready to go find our clothes and get out of here?”
She answered by shifting to her wolf and sprinting away from Camden. She didn’t make it far before she heard pounding footsteps behind her.
They made it to their clothes, shifted back to human, and got dressed. They both checked their phones, but there were no new calls.
As they walked back to the SUV, Kendall said, “Thanks for taking me to the water. It’ll save me a lot of time when we get home. Although I still have a hot date planned with my toothbrush.”
“You’re welcome. Just don’t tell anyone else that it’s here.”
“You don’t want them coming up here, or you don’t want them teasing you about it?”
“Both, I suppose.”
Kendall smiled. “Your secret is safe with me.”
“Thanks.”
They were almost to their vehicle when Camden said, “Hey, Kendall?”
“Yeah?”
Camden pulled the keys out of his pocket and hit unlock on the key fob. “You need any help with your heat, I’m here.”
Kendall smiled. It wasn’t a pick-up line, and he wasn’t hitting on her. His voice was sincere. And he would be taking a risk, servicing her through her heat, if she accepted. It wasn’t just about sex.
Forbidden Seduction Page 4
