His gaze softened when he looked up at me. “Thank you. That was kind.” Sighing, he looked away at the wet concrete around the pool. “Now I’m being hunted too. And not for breaking rules. Just for who I am. That’s comforting.” He stood up and grabbed his towel, slinging it over his shoulder, he took hold of my neck and kissed me enough that I wanted to rip both our clothes off. “It’s the full moon tonight,” he breathed against my lips. “I’m going into the forest until dawn. Stay here and wait, please?”
Begrudgingly, I agreed. He took his room key and a change of clothes in case his current outfit was ruined in the shift. After he left, I couldn’t sleep. Between the nightmares about James, and the constant worry he’d somehow capture me and take me back to be his slave, I could only rest when I was too exhausted to keep my eyes open. I watched history specials until the only thing playing was infomercials. So I watched those too.
At almost 7 am, I was still awake when the hotel door opened and Knight stumbled in wearing the change of clothes he’d brought. He was favoring one leg, and had a nasty red scratch on his collarbone. His breath came in ragged puffs. Without speaking, he walked over to the bed I was sitting on and collapsed next to me, and within seconds I heard snoring.
He slept past noon so I had to renew our hotel reservation for another night, whether or not we would stay that long. I was munching some cereal I’d snagged at the free hotel breakfast, and watching something about King Tutankhamen when Knight finally stirred. He sat up, wiped his mouth, and stretched until his back and shoulders popped. His eyes looked like he had a hangover, but the mark on his collarbone was healed and his leg was fine when he stood up. Kissing me once, he went to the bathroom for a shower, and came back in by the time I’d finished my cereal. I was trying not to stare at him, but he noticed me peeking glances.
“I know,” he said. “I look like shit. It happens. And I have a few more days until it’s over so, you know, yay.” He tossed himself into one of the chairs and leaned his head back. “Did you sleep?” I shook my head. I was tired, but I wasn’t to the point of collapsing yet.
“Do you remember anything when you’re shifted?” I asked him.
He shrugged. “Bits and pieces. Mostly just the things I kill. I always kill something. For sport I guess. I don’t eat it or anything. I just kill it.” He scrubbed a hand down his face. “I don’t know if Jesse is right. I don’t know if I’m good. Maybe there’s a reason there’s no one else like me. The Lycans obviously don’t like a Primal werewolf existing. Maybe I am a goddamn monster.”
The bed creaked when I got up, and I walked over to put my arm around his shoulders, running my hand up his arm to soothe him. “It’s just fear. Fear makes us do stupid things. Take the Salem witch trials, for example.” I was trying to lighten the mood, but it didn’t work. Knight stayed pensive and distant after that. He even made me drive the convertible, which made me a nervous wreck for the first hour.
When night rolled around, he left me at the truck stop I’d picked for us to sleep at. I had no intention of staying in the car waiting for dawn to arrive. I locked the car doors and hoped no one would bother it before following Knight across the parking lot. He walked far into the forest until he reached a clearing that let in the light from the stars. He set his change of clothes on the ground and walked far away from them before he sat down to wait for the moon to rise.
It took over twenty minutes for the moon to reach its zenith, and he was fine until the beams of ghostly light fell on him. He didn’t have time to remove his clothes before they were shredded when his body started growing. As before, his hands became claws, his face contorted into a snout, and every inch of his skin grew hair as his muscles grew. I was prepared for his scent turning acrid, but this time it wasn’t quite as unpleasant as it had been the first time. The Primal werewolf howled at the moon in a long mournful breath and sped off into the forest.
Following him was easy. I ran for the first time in months, and even though my powers were back to normal, I’d somehow retained a higher level of senses. I knew that there was a family of six rabbits asleep in a burrow five trees over. A herd of twenty-three deer half a mile to the right. Squirrels sleeping in trees, birds in their nests. Bats, owls, raccoons, mice.
The sounds and images were overwhelming me, and I started having a panic attack. I stopped following Knight and rested for a minute, slowing my rapid heartbeat and gasping for air. If I focused on him alone, I could make myself ignore everything else. I closed my eyes and found Knight running and jumping to grab tree branches so he could swing on them. That was weird. Taking a deep breath, I focused as hard as I could, and everything except him fell away. I started running again.
I followed him for hours, always making sure to stay downwind so he wouldn’t catch my scent. Oddly enough, he was acting like a kid at the playground. He growled if any animal got too close to him, but he never hurt them. Was this really the werewolf who had sliced me open with one swipe?
Everything was going fine until we passed a river and a group of wild dogs came into scent range. Knight caught their smell and his elongated ears perked to the direction it was coming from. He growled, but didn’t charge in their direction. Instead, he turned to go the other way. It was too late. The dogs had caught the scent of a wolf in their territory. They growled, yipped, and barked, and then they came after him. The dogs were small in comparison, but they knew how pack rules went. He was alone. There was no pack to help him, and he had trespassed in their home.
They charged.
I wanted to help him. If he hadn’t attacked me the first time, I would have bust in and tore those dogs to pieces, but I had to watch from a distance. The Alpha, a large German shepherd, tore into Knight’s leg, but his skin was too tough for the dog to break. That didn’t stop the big dog from trying. The other dogs did the same, so Knight fought back. He swiped a hand at them, slinging them away from him. The ones he’d hit whimpered and staggered off to lick their wounds. As focused as I was on him, I could tell he wasn’t doing this for enjoyment or sport. He had attacked them back to protect himself. It was fucking magnificent to watch. He was beautiful and powerful.
Knight clawed the Alpha off his leg and the dog’s body flopped to the ground where it stopped moving. Their Alpha dead, the other dogs ran away as quickly as they could. Knight heaved, whimpered, and put a clawed hand over his leg. It was slightly pink from the dog’s teeth, but it wasn’t bleeding. He jumped up and started running again. I lifted a leg to follow when something grabbed me from behind.
“Lisbeth,” said a voice from above my head. “I’m so glad I’ve finally found you.”
Fuck. Me.
It was Arthur.
I considered running. I really did. But I couldn’t. Knight was far enough ahead of us that Arthur with his limited senses hadn’t seen or smelled him, I hoped, and if I ran, Knight might be seen. Even if I was caught, Knight would be safe as long as the Lycans didn’t find him. That’s all that mattered to me, keeping Knight safe.
“You are one hard vampire to find, my lady,” Arthur observed, his hold on me very tight. He rummaged through his pocket for something, keeping a knife pressed to my spine. When he found what he was looking for –handcuffs– he slapped them on my wrists. They were made for vampires, so tugging on them did no good. He turned me around and clicked a padlock and chain onto the handcuffs, a chain that was connected to his belt also via padlock. I didn’t put too much hope in finding the keys.
I looked up into his icy blue eyes and scowled at him. “And you’re one persistent fuck.”
“After you,” he said gallantly, and gestured to the direction he wanted me to walk. I dutifully went, trying not to glance back at Knight. “Funny,” Arthur commented when we’d been walking for a few minutes. “After how hard you tried to evade me, I thought you’d give up a fight when I caught you.” ‘When’ he’d said. Not ‘if’. He was nothing if not egotistical. Why had I ever thought he was attractive? Not that he could ever hold a can
dle to Knight. “And I never expected you to be just standing there either. Are you that short on blood that you couldn’t sense me?”
Why did he care? He’d caught his quarry. Job well done. Maybe he liked gloating. Or maybe he didn’t like catching his prize so easily. Either way, he was a buttmunching asswipe.
This fucker prattled the whole way back, and loudly. It wasn’t typical for him. Back at the Order, the most words I’d ever heard him say was the conversation we’d had at the chessboard.
“Is there a reason you won’t shut the fuck up?” I finally asked him.
“Never you mind,” was his response. Lovely.
We finally reached the abandoned building the Hunters were staying at, after a good thirty minutes of hiking. Arthur marched me through the old rusted doors, past two Hunters guarding them. A warehouse opened before me, and I was surrounded by Hunters. There had to be over two dozen of them, and each one as cold, ruthless, and slightly scary looking as Arthur was. My senses informed me of their exact number, twenty-nine, and how many weapons they all had, over two hundred collectively.
That was a tad overkill. I mean, I was awesome, no doubt. But I was just a single vampire.
“Well damn,” I commented as Arthur put a hand to my back to shove me forward. “I wasn’t aware I was this dangerous. Maybe I should’ve gotten a tattoo to look scarier. Oww, fuck!” Arthur had shoved me again, hard, and tugged on the chain to stop me from falling, but it made the cuffs dig into my wrists.
“That’s enough, Arthur,” a clear, stern voice said. I knew that voice. Olivier walked through the ranks as they parted for her. Her tight steampunk dreads perfectly match her leather Hunter garb, which included a leather bikini. She had seven weapons on her person, and I could only see four of them. Her face looked hard as she turned to me. She breathed in a heavy sigh, but other than that, she had no reaction. This wasn’t my best friend. This was Olivier the Hunter, and fuck was she hot. She was more terrifying than everyone else in the room. Blinking, she looked back at Arthur. “We’ve got her. Now let’s go. The Council has convened in New York, and we need to get her there as fast as possible.”
Arthur held up a hand. “Not just yet. I have some extra business here. In the meantime, let’s lock her–”
Arthur was interrupted by a loud crash as the warehouse doors burst open. It was Knight, still shifted, swinging his paws at the guards. His claws hit deeply and the guards fell. He turned to see the large group of Hunters surrounding him and roared in fearless challenge. The other Hunters sprang into action, unsheathing swords and cocking guns, and Arthur grabbed my arm so hard his long nails cut into me. I cried out, just slightly at the unexpected pain, and drew Knight’s attention to me. He charged through the Hunters, clawing and throwing until he reached me.
“Well,” Arthur started saying, no doubt about to monologue. Knight brought his claws down to the chain that tied me to Arthur, and it snapped in half, the force knocking me to the floor. With his other hand, he smacked Arthur so hard the warrior went flying.
Knight stood over me in a protective stance, his teeth bared, and with a loud growl he dared them to challenge him. He’d done massive damage to the other Hunters. Vampires didn’t heal quickly when a werewolf or Lycan was the attacker. I smelled blood everywhere. Knight looked down at me, and I felt a twinge of fear that he would attack me as well. Instead, he gently reached down to hook my cuffs with a claw and huffed at Olivier in signal to unlock them. She grabbed the keys from Arthur, whose stupidly hot face had a red slice from cheek to forehead from Knight’s claws. Olivier freed me, giving my hand a slight squeeze as she did, and backed away.
I stood, and Knight knelt with his back to me. He motioned with a claw and grunted. Get on my back. I mounted his back, he grabbed my legs tightly, and we sprinted out of the warehouse.
25. Confessions at dawn
Knight ran and ran, his claws never slacking on their grip around my legs. I clutched his neck tightly, my face buried in his furry neck. He took us away from the car and our things. None of that mattered now. If the Hunters found him, they’d take him to the Lycans, and he would be killed. I couldn’t let that happen. I wouldn’t. I didn’t care what I had to do to keep him safe, nothing was more important to me than him staying alive.
Knight didn’t stop running until dawn. When the moon disappeared from the sky, he stumbled, throwing me from his back, and knelt on the ground in pain. Whimpering, his body started shifting back to its human form. I waited until it was over and he rolled over in a sweaty, naked heap.
I took advantage of his weakness and stood up, forcing my voice to stay steady as I told him, “I have to go.” Then I turned and started running away from him, away from his kisses, away from his embrace. Away from his love.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” he shouted behind me. “Lis, come back.” I’d run far, but not far enough that I didn’t hear him say, “Please don’t leave me.” I stopped running and wrapped my arms around myself, his words almost breaking my resolve. His smell got closer, so I started running again. He chased me through the forest. We were both equally matched, but I couldn’t let him catch me.
He was gaining on me, and I picked up speed until I heard him cry out in pain. I faltered, only for a moment, and then he slammed into me, throwing us both to the ground. We plunged down a hill, his arms holding me to protect my head. When we stopped rolling, we lay side by side and he didn’t let me go. I thought about fighting him, but I couldn’t do it. I brought my hands up to clutch his back.
“Don’t leave,” he whispered into my hair. “Please don’t leave.”
“I have to.” I hugged him tighter. Just a few more moments by his side. “I can’t let them find you. They’ll take you to the Lycans.”
“They won’t find us,” he said firmly. “I’ll protect you. I promised I’d keep you safe.”
I pulled away so I could scowl at his face. He was going to get himself killed because he cared too much about the protection he was obliged to give me. “Forget the promise. Forget the Alpha’s bracelet.”
“This isn’t about a stupid bracelet, you ass.” He grabbed my wrists and brought them up in front of me. The bracelet was gone. “Look. You lost it when Arthur took you. If I stay with you, it’s because I want to.”
“And if I leave you, it’s because I want to,” I countered. “I abandoned my friends to protect them. If I can protect you by doing so, I will.”
“We’re beyond this, Lis. If any speck of what we’ve been through has taught us anything, it’s that if we’re going to survive, we need each other.” He brought a hand up to tuck some hair behind my ear. “Please. Trust that I can protect myself, and you.”
Tears welled in my eyes. “I’ve felt the pain of losing people I loved. It never goes away. You just learn to live with it. And I can’t do that with you. I don’t know why, but I can’t.”
He stared at me, his hand still resting on my cheek. “Lis…”
We both stiffened when we heard something in the forest.
I looked back at him in a panic. “They’re here.” It wasn’t just the Hunters I felt. I could sense several Lycan packs coming in from all directions.
We were surrounded.
I saw it in his face when he realized it as well. I reached up and took his hand on my cheek. They would kill him. He’d be gone forever. My knight, my protector. Suddenly the thought of my fate with the Order didn’t seem so bad. At least I wouldn’t have to live in a world without Knight. A world without sunlight.
A thought entered my head, something I’d been fighting this whole time, but it felt so right, I couldn’t help myself. I leaned forward and kissed Knight on his perfect lips. He whimpered as I explored his mouth with my tongue. We only had moments, and I wasn’t going to waste them.
Resting my forehead against his, I stroked his cheek and kissed him once, lightly, before looking into his eyes. “I love you.” A sob broke from my chest, finally knowing the truth inside me. “I do. I love you.”
He didn’t even hesitate in his response to my declaration. “Gods, I love you so much, Lis.” Another kiss, and another. As many as we could get.
The Lycans and Hunters were closer. In the distance, I could hear the Lycans growling as they got closer. I gasped, grabbing Knight to me. I wasn’t scared of Lycans. I was scared because the closer they got, the less time I had with him. He held me tight and combed his fingers through my hair. “I won’t let them take you,” he whispered to me. I felt tears fall down my cheeks. He knew he couldn’t save me, or himself. He was only trying to make me feel better. As he always did.
“Don’t lie to me,” I told him with a sob. “Don’t ever lie to me.”
“Please don’t cry, Lis,” he pleaded softly. “I’ve seen you cry so many times. But you’re so strong. You have to stay strong for me. No matter what happens, promise?” I nodded against his shoulder. He pulled me back for another deep and meaningful kiss before our pursuers reached us. I savored the feel of his lips, his scent in my nose, and even the smell of his blood.
Time stopped around us, and nothing mattered except the feeling of our lips and bodies together. I knew I could kiss him for a hundred years and still always, always would need and want more. More of him. More of us. Every moment together, it had always been him, from that first day when he smiled at me.
I loved him so much. I wanted to cry over the depth of my feelings, because here, on the last moment of my freedom, was the moment I’d found my soul mate. The one I’d been searching for ever since I was a fledgling, and he’d been here this whole time. It didn’t matter that he was a werewolf, and he didn’t care that I was a vampire. We’d found love in an unexpected source, in the one person we never thought it would happen with. And with the only person we wanted it to happen with.
In that soft little moment, I felt complete. And I was ready to face my fate.
We were still kissing when they got to us.
The Born Vampire series: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (The Complete Series, NSFW Edition) Page 17
