“I tried, but she ended up getting sick.”
“Try again,” Kale bit out as he made his way down three flights of stairs.
“She’s depressed. She won’t leave her room. She’s not eating, doesn’t want to talk, and she’s fucking crying, Kale,” Jacob rushed to explain as Kale shoved the heavy metal door open and joined the late afternoon crowd taking over the sidewalks.
“Don’t fucking care what she’s doing as long as she’s not causing problems,” Kale said as he took a right down a side street and headed for the high-rise that he’d been staking out for the past week waiting for Vane’s men to fuck up.
“If she goes into bloodlust, I would call that a pretty big fucking problem,” Jacob snapped before adding, “especially this close to the mansion.”
“Just take care of it,” Kale said absently, watching as Vane’s personal bodyguards did another sweep around the perimeter of the building.
“Are you fucking crazy? Do you really think that I’ll be able to stop a Pyte in bloodlust?”
“Yes,” Kale said, wondering why they were even having this conversation.
“How the hell am I supposed to do that?”
“Tear her throat out,” Kale drawled as his attention shifted to the front entrance, noting that there was only one guard standing between him and finishing this job.
“God, you’re a cold bastard.”
Chapter 13
“Are you okay?” came the question from the other side of the door as Ashley pulled her hand away from her ear and wiped away another tear, not really sure how to answer that question because she definitely wasn’t okay.
Nothing about this situation was okay.
God, she didn’t even know where to start, Ashley thought, slowly exhaling as she placed her hand back over her ear, trying to block out the sounds that were tearing her head apart only to wince when her stomach growled, sending a fresh wave of pain through her head while she struggled to get her mind off the fact that she was starving. The mouthwatering aroma that was coming from the other side of her bedroom door that she was trying to ignore wasn’t helping. So, she turned over onto her other side and stared at the wall, wondering when she was going to wake up and find out that this was all just a bad dream. All she ever wanted was to fit in, to be like everyone else, and now…
Ashley finally understood why her stepfather never wanted her around and had done everything in his power to get rid of her. She was dangerous. She’d broken a shifter’s arm without even trying. She didn’t want to think about what would have happened if she’d been around a child when she’d lost it.
She was never going to have a normal life, Ashley realized as she wiped away another tear and-
“I don’t have time for this shit,” the man that had made sure that she knew exactly how dangerous she really was before he’d left a week ago said as he scooped her up in his arms and carried her out of the bedroom that she’d been hiding in for the past week.
“What the hell are you doing?” Ashley asked, moving to stop him only to pull her hands back when she remembered what happened when she’d touched Jacob’s arm.
“Apparently repeating myself,” Kale drawled, sighing heavily as he carried her through the empty room that she was assuming was supposed to be the living room and headed straight for the kitchen.
As soon as they made it to the kitchen, Kale placed her on her feet and gestured to the metal folding chair in front of the matching table for her to sit down as he headed to the refrigerator and-
“No,” Ashley said, shaking her head frantically as she backed away from him even as she ran her eyes over him, noting that his short dark brown hair looked like he constantly ran his fingers through it, the hard set of his jaw, the coldness in his dark green eyes, and couldn’t help but notice that he looked exhausted. It didn’t take away from the fact that he was incredibly handsome or the fact that he couldn’t seem to look at her without hatred in his eyes.
“I don’t have time to play this game with you, Ashley,” Kale said, making her wince when pain shot through her head as he tossed the bag of blood that already had her stomach turning, into the microwave as he leveled a glare of warning on her. “You need to drink this.”
“I really don’t, though,” Ashley stressed as she struggled not to panic, but it was difficult knowing what was about to happen.
“I just left a job, something that I’ve never done before because you’re throwing a fucking tantrum,” Kale bit out, sounding pissed just as she was forced to hold her breath when the scent of warm copper reached her. “So, stop feeling sorry for yourself and drink.”
“Sorry for myself?” Ashley repeated with a humorless laugh. “Are you kidding me?”
“Not even one fucking bit,” Kale said evenly.
“I’ve waited thirty-five years for this to happen! Thirty-five years and now that it has, I went from being a freak to a monster and you expect me to be okay with that? I can’t do that! I can’t pretend I’m not terrified that I’m going to end up hurting someone or worry that I’m going to end up doing something that gives away what I am and end up in a worse situation than I’m in now. This isn’t what I wanted!” Ashley snapped, wondering why it was so damn difficult for him to understand that she just needed time to accept this. She didn’t want to hurt anyone, but…
She just needed time.
“It doesn’t matter what you want,” Kale said coldly as he focused on what he was doing.
God, she couldn’t do this, Ashley thought, biting back a whimper as she watched him grab a coffee cup from the cabinet and slammed it down on the counter, sending sharp pain through her head even as she realized that she didn’t have a choice.
Then again, since she’d actually figured that out over a week ago, it really didn’t help. She needed blood, but no matter how many times she managed to convince herself of that, it didn’t seem to make a difference. She couldn’t do it.
She’d tried.
God, she’d tried to drink it, tried to force herself to swallow as much blood as she could and every time her stomach revolted, she struggled to hold it down, but she could never handle it for more than a few minutes before she-
“If you don’t drink blood, you’re going to lose control and kill someone,” Kale bit out evenly as he grabbed the bag of blood out of the microwave, sliced the bag open and poured blood into the mug.
“You don’t understand,” Ashley said, licking her lips nervously as he picked up the coffee cup and held it out to her. “I really can’t-”
“There is a fucking family less than two miles away with several small children who won’t be able to protect themselves if you keep playing this fucking game,” Kale snapped at her, making her stomach drop as she found herself reaching for that cup with a trembling hand.
Swallowing hard, Ashley raised the cup to her mouth, reminding herself that she didn’t have a choice and-
“Son of a bitch!” Kale snapped, grabbing hold of his right arm as the first mouthful of the warm, metallic substance made its way down her throat and settled in her stomach seconds before the first tendrils of pain followed.
Before she managed to force another mouthful of blood down her throat, Kale snatched the mug from her hands and she was quickly turning around and making her way back to her room, struggling not to panic as she made her way to the bathroom, terrified of what would happen if she didn’t figure out a way to fix this.
“Shit!” Kale bit out as he turned the sink on and shoved his arm beneath the cold water as pain shot through his mating mark, letting him know that he’d seriously just fucked up.
“What are you doing?” came the question that had Kale looking to his left to find Jacob leaning back against the wall, looking bored as he devoured a box of cereal.
“There’s something wrong with the blood,” Kale said, shaking his head in disgust as he turned off the water and reached for the roll of paper towels on the counter even as he ran all the possibilities through his head.
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He’d set up a fake account on the Sentinel blood delivery system, had the blood dropped off twenty miles away with a courier who had no ties to the Sentinels or their world. The Sentinels made sure that they did everything to ensure that the blood was good to make sure that vampires didn’t have any excuses to attack humans. The only reason they’d fuck with the blood is if someone working for them found out that the blood was going to him, but there was no way that anyone could have tied him to the blood. That left the courier. He’d told them not to fuck around with his delivery and make sure that it made it here within the hour.
He didn’t have time for this, Kale thought, biting back a curse. He shouldn’t be here. He needed to get back to New York and handle this before they tried to move the little bastard. He wondered why he’d dropped everything to come back here for a mate that he didn’t want when he should have taken advantage of Vane’s lapse in security and grabbed his son, but…
The idea of Ashley crying had torn at him and had him doing something that he’d never done before. He’d never stopped a job before it was done, not even for Izzy and she meant the world to him. He’d delayed jobs before, moved his ass to finish them quickly, and rushed back between jobs to make sure that she was okay, but he’d never stopped in the middle of one for her. But Ashley…
Was already fucking with his head.
“There’s nothing wrong with the blood,” Jacob said, shrugging it off as he shoved a handful of cereal in his mouth only to add, “Except for the fact that it’s human.”
“She should be able to consume human blood now that she’s transitioned,” Kale pointed out as he ignored the pain shooting up his arm and tried to figure out what they were doing wrong. There was no question in his mind that she was a Pyte. He could smell it on her, which meant that she should be able to consume human blood, but something was off.
“True,” Jacob murmured, looking thoughtful.
“How close has she come to bloodlust?” Kale asked, running a few possibilities through his head as he flexed his right hand, trying to work the pain tearing through his arm out only to frown when Jacob said, “She hasn’t.”
“How the hell is that possible?” Kale asked as he made his way back to Ashley’s room, deciding to find out for himself.
“No clue,” Jacob said, following him as he walked into the bedroom and headed towards the sound of running water.
Kale didn’t bother knocking. He simply walked into the bathroom and-
“Where the hell is she?” Jacob asked as Kale shifted his gaze from the empty shower and sink that were both running at full blast to the windows behind him to find them open and sighed.
Just fucking sighed.
He really didn’t have fucking time for this shit, Kale thought as he pulled out his phone and opened the app linked to her tracker while Jacob headed out the door, determined to find her before it was too late. He should have thrown her downstairs in one of the cells when he had the chance, Kale thought as he headed for the door, only to come to a stop when a small beep drew his attention.
“Tell me that you’re not really hiding beneath the bed,” Kale said, sighing heavily as he slowly turned around and waited for the pain in the ass to give up trying to hide from him.
There was a slight pause before he heard the soft sigh as he watched Ashley, who really should have fucking known better, make her way out from beneath the bed. It took a few minutes, several grumbled, “Stupid boobs,” and a whole lot of fucking shimmying, but she eventually managed to pull herself out.
As she slowly stood up, Kale reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache come on as he said, “Tell me that you didn’t seriously just try hiding from two shifters by crawling beneath the bed.”
“In my defense, it would have worked if it hadn’t been for the bracelet,” Ashley said, making his lips twitch as he dropped his hand away to glare at her.
“Running hot water was a nice trick,” Kale drawled as he walked into the bathroom and turned off the shower and sink faucet, even as he couldn’t help but wonder how she’d managed to come up with that trick.
“Thank you,” Ashley mumbled, shifting nervously as he walked back into the room and headed to the windows.
“Mind telling me how you came up with it?” Kale asked, running everything through his head that he knew about her as he closed the windows only to admit that it wasn’t a hell of a lot.
“I wanted to make you think that I was in the shower to buy myself some time,” Ashley said, shrugging it off as he turned around and considered her, taking in everything from the way that she forced those incredibly beautiful green eyes to hold his gaze down to the way that her adorable little toes curled as she shifted nervously, before glancing back up and meeting her gaze.
“Liar,” Kale said, knowing that she’d used the hot moisture from the shower to strengthen her scent and confuse them. It was definitely a nice trick, one that made him even more curious about her.
“What makes you think that I’m lying?” Ashley asked, still forcing herself to meet his gaze.
“Your toes,” Kale drawled, watching as she frowned in confusion as she looked down and-
“Damn it.”
-muttered unhappily when she realized what she was doing.
“Want to tell me why you suddenly decided to escape?” Kale asked, folding his arms over his chest as he leaned back against the wall while he considered her.
God, she was beautiful, Kale thought, but then again, she would have to be, wouldn’t she? It made her the perfect predator. She was incredibly beautiful with a body that would make men desperate for her, making it so fucking easy for her to lure them to their doom.
“What makes you think that it was sudden?” Ashley demanded as she moved to fold her arms over her chest, mimicking his stance, only to reach down with a curse and yank the boxer-shorts and the large shirt that she was practically swimming in, back up, reminding him that she was going to need some clothes of her own soon. It was either that or risk tearing the other shifter’s throat out every time Kale saw her wearing Jacob’s clothes. He might not want her, but that didn’t mean that he was going to stand around and allow another man to mark her with his scent.
“Because you’ve been here for a week and haven’t so much as glanced at the front door,” Kale drawled as he found himself running his eyes down her incredibly beautiful tan legs before he realized what he was doing and forced himself to look away.
“That’s because I was lulling you into a false sense of security by making you think that I wasn’t going to try to escape,” Ashley said as she folded her arms over her chest, drawing his attention before he shifted his focus back up to meet her gaze.
“Which would completely make sense if you hadn’t waited until you had another shifter in the house to stop you,” Kale pointed out, watching as she narrowed her eyes on him as she considered him.
“I like to challenge myself,” Ashley said with a firm nod, looking beyond fucking adorable, which of course, only made him hate her more.
Chapter 14
She didn’t like him.
Not. At. All, Ashley decided as she found herself taking in the man glaring at her. Then again, the feeling seemed to be mutual, Ashley noted as she watched green eyes darker than hers narrow on her as they turned silver. The only question was, why did he hate her? For a moment, she wondered if he knew, but…
He would have already turned her over if he did, right?
God, she hated not knowing what was going on and how they’d found her. She’d considered asking Jacob over the past week, but she’d been afraid to say something that would give her away.
“You’re not going to escape,” Kale said with a dismissive shake of his head, making her frown.
“And why’s that?” Ashley asked, already knowing that she’d be an idiot to try to leave.
Right now, no one knew where she was and since that worked for her, she was going to stay right where she was. At least, unt
il they gave her a reason to leave, and considering what was waiting for her out there, she didn’t think being an asshole was enough to make her do something incredibly stupid.
“Besides the fact that you would have already tried?” Kale drawled before saying, “Because you’re afraid.”
“I want answers,” Ashley said, knowing better than to admit that she was terrified and give him something that he could use against her.
She’d learned that lesson early in life, thanks to her stepfather.
“Then why didn’t you ask Jacob?” Kale asked, sounding bored as he considered her.
“Because he’s not the one who was hired to kidnap me,” Ashley pointed out even as she told herself that she needed to suck it up and get the hell out of here before it was too late, but…
She couldn’t stomach the idea of hurting someone.
“True,” Kale murmured, sounding thoughtful before adding, “but then again, since you have no idea what Jacob knows, you would have at least tried to get information from him.”
“And waste my time?” Ashley said, pursing her lips up as she made a show of thinking it over.
“You have nothing but time,” Kale said, sighing heavily as he pushed away from the wall.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Ashley asked, unable to help but frown as she watched him make his way towards her.
“Exactly what it sounds like,” he murmured absently as he raised his wrist to his mouth.
“You’re planning on keeping me here forever,” Ashley said hollowly as she watched his fangs slide down seconds before he bit into his wrist.
“Until I come up with a better plan,” Kale said, gesturing with his other hand for her to get on the bed as the tantalizing scent that she’d been trying to ignore suddenly permeated the air, making her lick her lips as she struggled to look away from the blood dripping down his forearm.
“You can’t keep me here and we both know it,” Ashley mumbled weakly even though she already knew that she might not have a choice.
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