by Tamara White
What I wouldn’t give to be hunting right now.
“There’s something really wrong with you. You’re trying to hide it by shoving your hands in your pockets, but your whole body has a fine tremble and you’ve started to sweat. No supe sweats unless they are dying,” Jesse explains, like I should know such a thing and I do, I just didn’t think I was sweating yet. Fuck.
I debate on whether or not to be truthful, but I have a feeling these two won’t let it go. May as well explain a little.
Sighing with exasperation, I stop and face them. “You’re the reason I’m shaking. I’m hungry. I used my energy to save you when I hadn’t fed enough. I got lost in the hunt after and didn’t feed correctly, so I haven’t replenished what I lost.”
Marcus’s mouth thins in disgust. “You were hunting supes because you were hungry? Why not eat human food like a normal person?”
I don’t answer him because he assumed it was normal food I needed, not the energy of supernaturals.
Jesse cocks his head curiously. “It’s not physical food she needs,” he notes, intrigued. “I felt it when you fed on me and gave me your blood. You shared your life force with me. Is that what you feed on?”
I give him one brisk nod and turn. I don’t need to see his pity or disgust, so I just continue walking.
“So she’s like Tristan then?” Marcus concludes with an edge of wonderment in his voice, and I pause to look back. What does he mean? The vampire? How am I like him?
“Excuse me, but what on earth are you talking about?” I demand, doing my best to resist voicing all the questions in my mind.
The two tigers exchange a glance before Jesse speaks. “Well, I don’t know if you noticed, but Tristan is a little...” He waves his hand, trying to find the right word.
“Insane, cuckoo, bananas, batshit crazy,” Marcus provides, his smile growing with each word.
Jesse sends him a scathing look before sighing sadly, his hands dropping. “I was actually gonna say he’s a little different, but any of Marc’s descriptions work too. He has what we refer to as the supernatural equivalent of bipolar disorder. One minute he can be completely normal, and the next he’s like a rabid animal. We learned about a year ago that feeding on living energy keeps him kind of sane. It’s why we were out tonight, doing what I imagine you were. Hunting for the worst of our kind to let him feed. We only need to do it once a week, sometimes twice if his moods are particularly bad, but he’s usually pretty good. You’re the first person in three years I’ve seen him actually interact with besides us. He usually just ignores everyone else or attacks, depending on the circumstances.”
“So you think I have bipolar disorder?” I snark, taking offense. I was best friends with a girl all through high school who lived with bipolar disorder, and she was constantly medicated to stop the symptoms from ever surfacing. I only saw her off her meds once, and it was pretty scary to see. She was a completely different person and a violent one at that.
“No, not you. If you did, you’d be all over the place,” Jesse rushes to explain. “But Tristan does. One minute he can be the happiest person in the world, then the next he’ll call us, threatening to kill himself by jumping into a bonfire. He has mood swings that make him hard to deal with, but when he feeds on the life force of another creature, he mellows. Kind of like the other’s energy is a sedative.”
“What Jesse was trying to say is that for whatever reason feeding on a life force helps both of you. Tristan in keeping a level head and you for whatever reason,” Marcus summarizes with a shrug.
I think about it, and maybe I am more like this Tristan than I thought. After all, I do have mood swings when I’m low on energy, but for me, the need for another’s vitality is a life or death matter. I mean, I haven’t tested the dying part yet, but the weakness I feel, the fever, the pure agony that builds when I deny my needs, it’s as close to death as I think one can get.
“I guess we’re similar, but I bet he doesn’t need to feed. I, however, have no choice. If I don’t, I’ll weaken until I die, and I didn’t fight so hard to live just to die because a bunch of dicks got in my head.”
“Oh, I think if our dicks were in your head, you’d know about it,” Jesse quips instantly.
Before I can say anything, too surprised by his snarky response, Marcus whacks him across the back of the head. “Geez, get your fucking mind out of the gutter. And you wonder why no one hangs around us for longer than a fucking day. You and that lack of filter,” he scolds in exasperation as he glares at his brother.
Jesse actually looks a little chagrined by the reprimand. “Sorry,” he murmurs, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “I have a little bit of a problem keeping my thoughts to myself.”
I shrug, not really offended, just surprised by the comment. The past six months have been filled with nothing but tension, so it’s nice to have a little unfiltered humor in my life.
There was a time I would have replied exactly as Jesse did.
“Meh, doesn’t bother me,” I reply with a smile. “If he didn’t say it, I would have thought he was nothing more than an emotionless robot.”
“Yes, well,” Marcus starts, sending one last glare to his brother. “It doesn’t matter. There’s a way to speak in front of a woman and that’s not it. Now, back to what I wanted to ask before my idiot of a brother opened his mouth—how bad do you need to feed?”
I frown, unsure how to put it into words. The only real way I know how to determine my hunger level is hungry and hungrier. I find it’s about to go to shit when I start to get the shakes, but I don’t really want to admit that. I may have a slight level of trust with the one who’s connected to me by energy, but I don’t know what Marcus will do with the information if I reveal just how weak I am after feeding his brother. After all, I was the one who shot and almost killed Jesse. Maybe if he knows just how weak I’ve become, then he’ll use it to his advantage and take me out. I can’t take that risk.
“It doesn’t matter. There’s nothing either of you can do unless you’re willing to offer me your lives, and I doubt that’s something either of you would be up for.”
“You know, I thought you would be reasonable. I get you don’t know us, so you don’t trust us, but we can’t help you if you don’t tell us just how hungry you are,” Marcus argues, his annoyance clear. Still, I don’t tell him I’m hungry enough to want to kill him and his brother where they stand.
It’s taking a hell of a lot of willpower to remain in control of my urges as it is.
He throws his hands up. “Fine, if you won’t tell us, then I guess I’ll just have to fucking guess how much to bring you.” Suddenly, he rips his shirt from his body and starts to undo the button on his jeans, leaving me wondering what the fuck his game is.
When he’s bare, the moonlight highlighting every inch of his skin, ensuring I get a great fucking view of his cock, he crouches down and lets the shift take over him. One minute Marcus was a hulking being of a man, a fucking sexy one at that, and the next, he’s a beautiful, white Bengal tiger.
He approaches me, rubbing his body around my legs like a giant house cat before growling softly and taking off.
I look at Jesse, clearly confused. “Uh, what’s he doing?”
Jesse grins wickedly. “He’s gonna feed you. The desert is rife with vampire nests, and they will be finished their hunting, returning to their dens for the day. Now’s the time when they will be at their weakest, but they will still provide you energy until your next hunt.”
At my scrunched up face, he asks, “What? Don’t like vampire blood?”
“I’ve never had someone else feed me before,” I admit. “I love the hunt too much to let another do it.”
He scoffs, completely taken aback by my words. “I never, in my life, have met a girl who didn’t like being taken care of. Just let my brother feed you some vamps.”
I bristle angrily, taking three strides until I’m up in his face. “And how do I know these vampires have done harm?
How do I know that I’m not killing a being simply because you or your brother wants them dead? I am no one’s little lap dog. I never kill anyone who doesn’t deserve it. Supes hunt humans like they are nothing but cattle, toys for their entertainment. I step in before a supe has a chance to hurt the human. I don’t go out killing the first supe I find. I’m not some heartless monster like the beast that turned me!” By the end of my rant, I’m panting, and my hands are shaking even more than before.
Not only is the hunger making me lose control, but the arousal to the man who has my energy coursing through his body is just as strong. I want nothing more than to touch him, to make him mine in every way possible and it takes a hell of a lot of control to tamp down the side effect of sharing my power with him.
Jesse’s eyes are burning brightly, but no longer with anger, only sympathy. “I want to kiss you,” he growls lowly.
My eyes widen. “And I want to fuck you. But I have this little thing called self-control.”
He grins, gripping my hips tightly. “Yeah, I don’t have that.”
His lips slam down on mine and I respond eagerly, the touch of another being making my body light up like fireworks. His hand cups my cheek, his thumb grazing my scars, and I jerk back like I’ve been slapped.
Drake used to do that, and the move is like a bucket of ice water. I walk away from him, glad I snapped out of that lust haze.
The only way I can justify my behavior is from the lack of sex and increased hunger. Yes, that’s all it is. I’m hormonal and hungry. At least that’s what I tell myself, even as my body craves to have Jesse’s hands running over it. But that’s one rabbit hole I can’t go down.
Chapter Twelve
Isobel
Jesse stares at me, want clear in his eyes mingled with confusion and frustration from me backing away. It’s hard not to glance at him, to feel that same want and need within me but I can’t let myself fall into another supes arms. I know the connection is just because of the shared blood, but he doesn’t and it would not be fair of me to take advantage of him in such a way.
After a few long, agonizing minutes of tension between Jesse and me, the sound of an animal grunting can be heard before a white tiger appears in the distance, dragging what looks to be a body.
When Marcus reaches us, he lets go of the unconscious vampire, who’s covered in human blood, judging by the scent wafting off him.
Marcus shifts back to human, disgust clear in his eyes as he looks down at the vampire. “Here, have at him. He and his friend killed a bunch of humans. Sadly, his friend didn’t make it.”
Something tells me Marcus isn’t one bit sad by the loss of the vampire’s companion. Neither am I, but I do find it strange he just happened to find a vampire who had been snacking on a human.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” he challenges, as I look down at the vampire. “I mean, he’s no box of chocolates, but he should tide you over until tomorrow night at least.”
I snort and bend down to pull the vampire closer to me. I don’t take my eyes off the shifters as I bite down on the vampire’s throat, enjoying the coppery tang as it hits my tongue. I feed greedily, enjoying every last drop, even if my victim doesn’t struggle tonight. This is simply about nourishment and that’s it.
When I feel the life force absorb into my body, I let go of the vampire, ensuring I’m up and out of the way before the body turns to dust. I don’t want my outfit covered in body powder when I walk back onto campus.
“What the fuck? How did you do that?” Jesse questions, his gaze fixed on what was once a body but is now nothing more than a pile of dust.
I shrug, answering honestly. “Don’t know, don’t really care. All I care about is the fact that it keeps my trail hidden from the council. No evidence of my kills is ever left behind, and by the time they even notice people missing, I’m long gone.”
Both men nod silently, but I can tell my ability to clean up after myself disturbs them. Why wouldn’t it? It’s not something that’s been seen before as far as I know. Sure, witches can actively use magic to torch a body, but my power isn’t that. It’s as if somehow my feeding off them takes the energy by igniting their souls on fire. That’s the only way I could ever describe it to Jordan when he asked.
Rather than continue talking about me and my powers, I give Marcus my attention. “Thank you.”
His eyes widen slightly. “For what?”
I wave my hand at the last specks of dust that are floating away on the light breeze. “For this. I would have been a mess tomorrow if I didn’t get the top up. So thank you. And I guess I’m sorry for almost killing your brother too.”
I mean, I’m not quite sorry because it was a fight or flight instinct—definitely fight—that took over me.
Marcus looks to his brother with a smidgen of relief in his gaze before coming back to me, watching me curiously. “You going to explain just how you were able to almost kill my brother with a simple bullet? No shifter or supe should be downed from such a small wound, but yet you seemed to understand exactly what was wrong and knew how to fix it. How is that?”
Rather than answer, I start walking. I’m not being rude on purpose, well, maybe I am, but does he really expect me to spill every secret I have because he fed me and I saved his brother’s life? No, I’m not that stupid. I still don’t know what level of trust I can instill on them, so there’s no way I’d let them know such a secret, not when it involves using magic to infuse my bullets.
As it was, I was foolish to reveal who I am, but I’m hoping my position of power will frighten them into keeping it to themselves. Otherwise, I may be forced to kill them all anyway.
The sound of running footsteps sounds as the men hurry to catch up to me. “Hey, wait up,” one of them calls before Marcus appears on my left. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry, I was just curious.” Jesse appears on my right, a grin in place as he matches my pace.
What is it with these two? Why are they still trailing after me like lost little puppies? I saved Jesse, his brother helped me, debt repaid. There’s no reason for them to stick around.
“Look, guys, I hate to be a bitch, but you should both stay far away from me. People tend to die around me and I would hate for another repeat of tonight when you actually seem semi-good. Well, at least I haven’t caught you killing humans, so good until proven not.”
It’s Jesse’s turn to snort. “Yeah, but you can heal us if you shoot us again, so it’s a moot point. Besides, you’re the Supreme Alpha. We have a few questions, actually a hell of a lot of questions.”
I remain silent but Jesse continues on. “Besides, you’re alone. You should have protectors or enforcers at your side. Which begs the question, why are you at Midnight Society without an escort of some sort? And the bigger mystery of the night is how on earth none of us knew you existed. The last Alpha is still alive as far as we know, so how is it possible you even exist?”
A bubble of laughter escapes my lips before I can control it. That’s rich. They said they didn’t like the council, yet they trust the drivel they spit out?
“Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but your old Alpha died two years ago. I’ve been the Alpha since, except the council neglected to tell me all my duties so they could control you idiots. I’ve been training since I realized what they were doing, but your precious council is still hiding his death from all of you and keeping my existence secret because they don’t want you to know how much they fucked shit up.”
“Wait, did you say two years?” Marcus asks, his shocked tone drawing my gaze. He exchanges a glance with his brother, something akin to curiosity in his eyes. Jesse, too, seems surprised by this news, but it’s not his brother his eyes land on, it’s me. Like somehow this news makes me more interesting.
“Why are you both surprised by this? Didn’t think your precious council could keep such a secret from you?” I scoff, rolling my eyes. “Those bastards are the masters of secrets. They kept many from me and when I suspected the truth, I knew
I was going to leave their asses in the dust. I was tired of seeing this new world from their view and never knowing the truth. I wanted to experience it all for myself, to see what changes had to be made in order to make this world coexist with humans without endless slaughter. But the more I saw, the more convinced I became that everyone should just die, ending the supernatural races for good.”
“You would really kill an entire species out of spite for the council?” Marcus questions me, and I can tell by the way he watches me he’s reconsidering me as a threat.
We’re nearing Midnight again and I sigh, feeling relieved. I’m tired as hell and could use a good night’s sleep.
“No, Marcus, I wouldn’t kill an entire species. Which is why everyone is still alive. But I was right that supernatural kinds need better policing. Whatever the council has in place to keep you under control is not working. Humans are being attacked and turned against their will, and while schools like this exist, it shouldn’t be a case of just wiping it under the rug after a turning occurs. The people responsible for turning another should be reprimanded for their actions. If death is the punishment, then so be it. But the council doesn’t seem to care so long as it doesn’t affect them. They should count their lucky stars I didn’t go straight to the humans and turn them in. I could have revealed this whole world and destroyed them along with any other supernatural in existence, but I didn’t. That doesn’t mean, however, that I won’t make them suffer for all they’ve done.”
Both men remain silent as we travel the last couple of feet onto the school grounds. It’s clear by the energy I’m picking up from them that they both truly fear me now, or at least what I’m capable of. Maybe they’ll think better of trying to befriend me and steer clear of me.
After all, I’m their Alpha. If I choose to, I could end them for the smallest infractions simply because I wish to. It’s just lucky for them that I’m not like the council.
