Cross My Heart

by Elizabeth Morgan

  I mimicked the Werewolf’s steps, wanting to keep as much distance between them all and Nathan. I stopped a breath away from him, only having to lift my head slightly to meet his gaze.

  “Nice photo.” He gave me a toothy grin. Flecks of silver danced in his brown eyes as he handed my driver’s license back to me.

  “Thanks.” I slid the card into my jacket pocket, before angling a look at the doctor. “I would have given it t’you if you would have asked.”

  “My apologies.” He didn’t look very sorry.

  “Now, would you kindly tell me where my cousin is?”

  “Italy,” the Alpha replied.

  Shit. Italy? What? Why the hell would she go to Italy?

  My brow furrowed. I took a few steps back, so I was able to look at the burly male. “Did she happen t’mention why?”

  “Surely, you could call and ask her yourself?” The young male studied me.

  “Heather doesn’t own a mobile.”

  He snorted. “Who doesn’t own a mobile nowadays?”

  “It’s the truth.” The fully clothed male finally spoke. “She didn’t have one, but considering the circumstances, we acquired one for her so she can keep in touch.”

  “Circumstances?” I quipped my eyebrow. “Is something wrong?”

  “Other than the fact that you have a Leech for a friend?”

  “Owen,” the clothed male warned. “She received a letter from Sofia with a plane ticket inside.”

  I sighed. “So naturally, she is doing as she is told.”

  Great. I finally found her, and now, she was in another country following instructions to do what, exactly? God knows what my aunt had said to get her to go over there.

  “She’s gone to look for Marie.” The clothed male seemed to have read my mind. “She believes our taken Pack members may be on their way there.”

  “What?”

  “Elle?”

  Owen growled low in his throat, unfolding his arms.

  I scowled at him before turning to Nathan who had stepped further into the room.

  “Marie is Luca’s mother, right?”

  “Aye, and one of Marko’s Bloodlings.”

  His brow furrowed. “So, she’s still hunting for Marko.”

  She was doing what she was told to do. What we had been trained to do.

  “If your Pack have been taken there, then why haven’t you gone after them?”

  “None of your business.”

  “Owen,” the clothed male warned again, stepping toward the model. “Pack politics.”

  “It’s a hunch.” Carter suddenly sounded somewhat defeated. “Heather isn’t sure, but she believes the fact that Sofia sent a ticket… so on so forth.”

  “We don’t know for sure.”

  “Hence your new punch bag?” I nodded toward Michael.

  “And why Brendan has been allowed to go across and stay with her. Why we provided her with a phone.”

  The clothed male seemed so out of place in this room. Despite being dressed in jeans and a forest green sweater, he looked a little like the male who had caught Nathan the other night. That air of a businessman about him. Yet, he seemed reserved, not to mention a hell of a lot calmer than everyone else in this room. His hair was more of a chestnut brown, and like his Alpha’s, fell to just under his ear. Light stubble covered his strong jawline, and his eyes, though tired, were a warm mix of hazel with dashes of gold.

  “You’re using her to—”

  “We’re not using her,” Carter snapped. “She was going regardless, and she offered to keep her eyes and ears open.”

  So not only was my cousin hunting for Marko, but she was trying to rescue kidnapped Werewolves. What the hell was going on?

  “Dante, you need t’see something.” Graham reached behind his back and pulled a manila folder out of the back of his trousers.

  “Hey, that’s mine.” Nathan stopped by my side, unable to go any further when Owen stepped in his path. “I thought I’d lost it.”

  This time, a dry laugh did escape me. “You certainly have some hidden talents, Doctor.”

  He ignored my comment and handed Nathan’s folder to Dante, the clothed, guy, who opened it immediately and began reading.

  “Is it a souvenir folder from all your victims?” Liquid silver pooled into Owen’s eyes now that he and Nathan stood toe to toe.

  The comment caused Nathan’s spine to go rigid. His face now back to the shade of white I was accustomed to, he locked eyes with the Werewolf, any sign of his earlier nerves gone.

  “It’s my autopsy.” The words were punctuated slowly through clenched teeth. “And every little detail on what the Leeches did t’turn me into one of them.”

  “He wasn’t turned,” I stated, not even sure if they would understand what I meant, but hopefully, and considering everything they had been through recently and having Heather around, they’d get it.

  “No, he was very carefully created,” Dante commented and looked up at me. “This isn’t normal even for them.”

  He said it as a fact, but the slight crease at the top of his nose was indication enough he wasn’t sure.

  “No. That’s another reason why we needed Heather. She would be the only one who could explain this, and what it might mean.” Taking Nathan’s hand, I tugged him away from Owen. “Graham explained what happened, the Leeches taking Brendan and Heather, the Infecteds—”

  “The fire.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault.” Owen sneered as he started to circle me and Nathan.

  “I had nothing to do with that.” Nathan directed the comment at Dante.

  “You expect us to believe you, Leech?”

  “Do you judge every individual for the mistakes of their species?” He let go of my hand and turned to face Owen once more. “For example, I could easily stand here and judge Werewolves. Make them all out t’be an arse like you, but then this gent over here—” he indicated to Dante who continued to read the file in his hand. “—is calm and reasonable, and although I can see he doesn’t trust me, he is at least being courteous enough to keep his thoughts and impulses to himself.”

  Owen’s neck twitched, his jaw tense as their eyes remained locked.

  “I don’t want t’be this way.”

  “Kill yourself, then.”

  “And let them win? They took my life and therefore my family and my dreams. There is no way in Hell they are having my death as well.”

  “How eloquent of you.”

  “Fuck off.”

  An unexpected laugh bubbled up and spilled from Owen’s lips.

  “Okay, that’s it.” I stepped between them. “Can we please just try and discuss this?”

  “I agree.” Dante walked over to Owen and placed his hand on his shoulder. “There will be no more killing today.” He dropped his voice ever so slightly. “Go and take Scott for a run. He needs some air.”

  My focus shifted to the other younger male who hadn’t said a word or even reacted since we’d stepped into the room. Instead, he sat in front of the cage, back pressed to the bars, eyes closed, but his face was contorted as if he were in some kind of pain. Unlike Owen and Carter, his skin bared no scars, and like the others, he was yet another physically fit male. A fine layer of hair covered his chest, and his muscle mass was somewhere in between Carter and Owen’s. He was clearly taller, his features more rugged, his black hair sweat-slicked and swept back.

  “Danielle, I’m afraid it has been a very long and stressful week for us all, and well, we don’t entertain Vampires under normal circumstances, let alone recently.” Dante’s attention moved to Nathan as he said that last part, and it was pretty clear that was as much of a welcome Nathan would be receiving. “We won’t hurt you as yours is a strange circumstance.”

  “And we’re currently too exhausted to do a decent job,” Carter mumbled as he followed Graham to the far corner where Michael still hung.

  Nathan gave a curt nod. “Thank you.”
<
br />   Dante looked back at me.

  “I’m sorry you have come all this way to find your cousin isn’t here, but I assure you she is fine and that she is in good hands with Brendan.” He indicated to some chairs near the cage. “I can tell you what we have discovered, but I don’t know if it will explain the contents of this folder.”

  “I just want t’know why they did this t’me.”

  I gave him a thankful smile. “Anything you can tell us would be great.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Owen and Scott had left about twenty minutes ago. Graham and Dante sat on either side of Carter as they explained what had happened to my cousin and her Werewolf.

  The Vampires had tried giving Infecteds the Werewolf gene by injecting them and feeding them a Werewolf’s blood, but they’d had no luck. It just proved to exhilarate their energy and then leave them flat. So, Heather had been starved and Brendan had been kept weak, and they had been shoved in a room together in the hope of attacking one another and somehow exchanging curses.

  “Hybrids,” Dante explained. “They want to create better versions of themselves.”

  “But how do I fit in with that?” Nathan’s focus had been fixed to the stone floor throughout Dante’s explanation, his elbows braced on his knees as he listened intently.

  “From what I can understand, they injected you with the Vampyrric Virus, which killed and ‘turned’ you.”

  “Which cuts out the ‘traditional’ way of feeding from their victims and then baptizing them.”

  “So what?” Nathan glanced at me. “It’s t’save time?”

  A raspy laugh met our ears.

  “You poor fools.” Chains rattled as Michael struggled to lift his head. “So clueless.”

  Carter growled, but the sound only caused the Colony Leader to laugh more.

  “Why castrate him?” I asked, pulling focus back to the conversation at hand. “That … that is so far from what they do, I don’t even understand how it fits in. Vampires can’t conceive, so what good would neutering do?”

  A shadow passed over Carter’s face. “Eve.”

  My brow furrowed. “I’m sorry, who is Eve?”

  “My daughter. She is Loup-garou.”

  He looked at me, and all I could see was a tired old man who was worried sick about his daughter. His eyes were a sad brown, and that proud physique that had stood poised and ready to attack now seemed to slump on the wooden chair facing me.

  Nathan and I exchanged a look.

  “Able to conceive,” Dante stated as realization lit his features. “They put the virus into your sperm.” He reached for the folder that lay open in the centre of us all. “And froze them.”

  I suddenly felt stupid. “I’m sorry, I’m not following.”

  “Heather was right.” Carter’s words were filled with dread.

  “Breeding a new species is far easier than creating one.” Michael’s voice grated against his throat, exhaustion filling his tone, but the amusement that tickled the words was obvious.

  Carter lunged to his feet and stalked toward the dangling Leech. His foot connected with the silver dagger in the Vampire’s torso, and a God-awful screech filled the room.

  Despite the horrid noise, the light in my head finally clicked. “They injected the virus into you so it would mingle with your blood stream quicker, and then they took your scrotum.”

  His face scrunched. “Please don’t say that ever again.”

  “Living cells with the virus, which they removed and froze. That’s why they castrated you.”

  He fell back into his chair. “They turned me because they wanted my sperm.”

  Dante nodded. “Because they want to impregnate the females of our kind who are able to conceive.”

  “Taking a leaf out of Heather’s book.” I shook my head in disbelief. “Born Hybrids. Like she was a born Infected.”

  “So, you’re telling me that I’m now one of the undead, unable t’see my family, have a life, or grow old just because these stupid bastards were too lazy t’break into a sperm bank?” Nathan glanced between Graham, Dante, and me.

  “Highly unlikely that it wouldn’t have worked even if they had.” I twisted to face him. My mouth opened with the need to give a better reason for what had been done to him, but the only words that escaped me were, “I’m sorry.”

  “Fucking sorry?”

  Another raspy gurgle left Michael. Black blood oozed from his mouth, but still, he laughed.

  “And fuck you.” Nathan jumped out of his chair, and within a second stood before Michael. Tension cradled his back and shoulder. He flexed his hands by his sides as he stared the Colony Leader dead in the eyes. “Fuck you and all your fucking kind.”

  “You mean … Our kind?”

  Wrapping his fist in the Vampire’s hair, he yanked the Vampire’s head back, his face a mere breath away from the once sophisticated Michael who now looked like a battered drab of dead meat.

  “I am not part of your kind.” Nathan punched the words out.

  “You might want to look in a mirror.” A sickly, blood-filled smile stretched across Michael’s chapped lips.

  I saw the tension ripple through Nathan’s body, but the way in which he snapped the Vampire’s head to one side took me by surprise. A distinct crunch followed, and I realized that Nathan has just broken Michael’s neck.

  Carter remained a foot to his side, simply studying Nathan who wasn’t moving, his feet rooted to the spot and his fist still in Michael’s hair. He looked like a statue. Frozen and lost in the moment.

  Getting out of my seat, I forced myself to walk toward him. “Than?”

  “What the fuck?” The words escaped him on a whisper of disbelief.

  I reached out and touched his right shoulder. “Than, it’s okay.”

  He looked at me, black eyes staring in confusion, his jaw tense, blood trickling down his chin due to the puncture marks on his bottom lips.

  I watched in amazement as his extended fangs shrank, as that blackness in his irises swirled like ink in water. “It’s alright.”

  “No. No, it’s so far from being alright.” The words were broken, his voice strained.

  “You should kill him.” Carter’s voice was low. “Put him out of his misery.”

  Nathan’s gaze darted to the Alpha. “Both my life and death were taken from me. I will be damned if I allow anyone t’take my misery from me as well.”

  I glanced at the Alpha. “He’s as much a victim as Brendan and Heather have been.”

  “And I’m bloody going to make sure no one else ever is.”

  My brow furrowed. I squeezed his shoulder to bring his focus back to me. “What d’you mean?”

  He relaxed his fingers, sliding them from between the corpse’s hair. Rubbing his hand on his borrowed jeans, he stared at Michael.

  “I’m going to make sure that this never happens again. No one is ever going to end up like me or Freddie.” He looked at me. Determination blazing in his blue eyes. “I’m going to take over the Colony.”

  ***

  ~ Nathan ~

  “What the actual hell?” the teen said in awe as she circled Michael, peering up at his face which had dropped back to his chest. “You actually killed a Vampire and the big cheese. Shit, Than, you’ve really grown a set.”

  I stared at the top of the Vampire’s head, thinking about all the things I had read about him. He had been a bastard, and despite the fact that the Werewolves were still wanting to kill me, he had wronged them. Killing him had felt right, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

  “It’s in your nature now.”

  I don’t want it t’be. I don’t want t’go around killing people.

  “He’s a Vampire, not a person.”

  Once upon a time, he was a person.

  “He was still a bad person.”

  “Than?” Elle shook me. “What are you on about? Are you crazy?”

  Was I crazy? Yeah, I probably was, but I hadn’t wanted this, and after
the rundown of everything that had happened over the last couple of weeks, a lot of people didn’t want to be involved in this.

  “You said it yourself, no Vampires in the UK and no Leader means that this territory is vulnerable t’Vampires from other countries stepping in.”

  “That was a private conversation,” Graham stated.

  I glared over at the doctor. “I was present.”

  “You were in the boot.”

  “I was in storage, and I don’t sleep. Just because I didn’t partake in the conversation didn’t mean I wasn’t paying attention.” I looked back at Elle. “You said there could be consequences?”

  “Yeah, for the Pack. The Vampires will no doubt want t’get payback.”

  “Not if someone steps up and keeps them away. Not if the UK Colony and Pack have an understanding.”

  Carter barked a laugh as he moved past us. “You want us to form an alliance?”

  “Aye, why not?”

  “Because we don’t work with Leeches.”

  “You haven’t worked with Leeches because they’re all selfish arseholes. That’s not me.”

  Elle arched an eyebrow at my remark.

  “Hush, you.” I moved back to the three males. “Look, I’ve been thinking about this all day. I take place as Leader, and I make sure that innocent people aren’t getting attacked and changed against their will, and I will make sure no one starts trouble or tries to kidnap and experiment on Werewolves.”

  Carter only laughed more. “The Pack doesn’t need your help, little boy.”

  “No, but I need yours, and I think we can all agree that none of us wants any more of these bastards coming over and making decisions over our lives.”

  “I don’t really think that Vampires decide what these guys do, Than.”

  I ignored the teenager who had wedged herself between Graham and Carter.

  I’m sure that the Werewolves hadn’t guessed that their own would be taken. That is having no control. They never thought it would happen. They won’t want it happening again.

  “I think it is a reasonable solution,” Dante agreed.