Because right now, they needed it more than anything.
That’s why he wouldn’t ask, because they all needed to believe it was true.
“I’ve got PR on this. They’re leaking news of the impending wedding and we’ll announce the venue tomorrow,” Drew said.
“Has that been decided?” Parker asked.
“Not yet. Have some ideas?” Blake answered.
“I was thinking St. Louis. The Caramel Room at Bissinger’s.”
“The chocolate factory?” Warner arched a brow.
“Here’s my thinking. It’s enough to hold three hundred guests. We can give the illusion of a big wedding, while still keeping it rather small. We’ll invite the press and other concerned parties to the reception after, and give chocolate favors and champagne. We’re at war, so we need to keep the spending low, with the biggest return on investment. It will have every appearance of an expensive, yet quirky wedding, provide the press that we need, all while still being the small affair that we can control,” Parker said.
Warner nodded. “That’s smart. Security would be much easier.”
“As will making our exit. We can make a big show about how we’re going to Disney World or something, somewhere with a lot of people where it will be hard for anyone to pinpoint exactly where we are.”
"In the meantime, I'd like to introduce Belle to David," Blake said to Parker, almost as if he were looking for some kind of approval.
A rush of gratitude washed over him that he recognized Parker had claimed Belle as his mate. He didn't know where this was going or exactly when it would crash and burn, or even how it had happened, but Parker only knew that Belle belonged to him. Vampire or not. His beast didn't give a shit if she was a witch, a fairy, or ghoul. It didn't matter. Whatever she was, she was his.
"I think that's a good idea, if Belle agrees. Any trackers they put on you won't be able to find you, or get into your head inside David's laboratory." Parker turned to her.
"Not even the necromancers?" Belle asked, her tone soft.
"No, our witch would make them heartily and immediately sorry for trying,” Drew said with a grin. "When you meet her, you'll have to ask her about the ex-husband she turned into a shit demon."
"That’s a thing? I'm so naive." Belle shook her head.
"It is when Westwood says it is. She's married to the Goblin King, so as I said, we have unusual and powerful allies." Drew gave her another smile. "It's going to be okay, little sister."
A relief he didn't know he'd been waiting for followed that last wave of gratitude. They'd accepted her.
As if they wouldn't have.
Parker knew his brothers like the back of his own hand. They were his family. His pack. They'd always have his back, he knew that on a cellular level. It was his human mind that faltered, because he'd never had to ask for their help before.
Sure, he was a fuck up, but he mostly got himself out of his own scrapes. He'd accepted his duty to pack, and here he'd almost royally screwed them, granted while he was trying to do the right thing, and they backed his play. No matter what that meant for them.
He couldn't imagine living without that.
He couldn't imagine running from them.
It made him all the more determined to protect Belle. It didn't matter to him that she was an ancient vampire. She was still largely innocent in the ways of the supernatural world. She'd been alone for so long. She'd missed the Supernatural Renaissance where factions had come together and formed alliances. Or if not alliances, at least peace treaties.
"I'll talk to Randi, we'll start making the arrangements," Blake said. "Take her to David, get her settled and then I need you to come back to the boardroom for war council."
"I understand," Parker replied.
"It was nice to meet you all," Belle said. "I thank you."
"You're helping us too, don't forget that," Warner rumbled at her.
"I really hope that's what I'm doing," Belle said with a grim tone.
He led her out of the boardroom and toward the R&D wing. "So, that's my family."
"They're amazing. I can't believe all of the power in that single space. It rippled off of them all like it was a physical thing."
"Werewolves are like that." Parker sniffed. "Oh you smell like chocolate," he mimicked. "Yeah, power. More like animal magnetism."
"That's power, too. But no, Parker. That's not what I felt. It was... an electricity."
Parker had the urge to push her against the wall and bite her again, to remind her she should only be feeling electricity with him. Which was completely unlike him. Being the baby, he wasn't particularly the kind to stomp around and mushroom stamp everything in his wake like Blake did. Or even Drew. He wasn't even Beta. He was just... a cog. A wolf in the pack. But Belle made him want to do those things. Belle made him wish he was the kind of wolf who had that power.
Belle's laugh brought him back to the moment and his beast, had in fact, pushed her up against the wall and was snarling against her neck.
And she was laughing.
She wasn't mocking him, but it was a sound of actual mirth. She enjoyed the beast's rough and tumble treatment.
"Oh, Parker. Here?" She'd wrapped her arms around his neck. "Someone is going to see, but if you don't care, I guess I don't. Is that how things are done here?" Her voice dropped to barely a whisper. "Do you just throw your women against the wall and have a go whenever the wolf demands?"
"Not usually," he said, and realized his voice was several octaves deeper. He was on the verge of a full on Change and hadn't even realized it.
That was bad. Very bad.
"Oh, that's a disappointment."
His beast rumbled. "Would you like that?"
"Yes. I'm finding I like everything about you, Parker Woolven. I'm afraid that's dangerous for us both."
"It could be, but I've never been the one to do the most sensible thing." He nosed at her throat. "I've never had to deny my beast anything. Ever. Now that it seems I have to," his voice was still raspy, "I'm out of control."
"I like it when you're out of control. I like it when you're beastly. We can be monsters together."
Her words sent electric jolts of pleasure through him, thinking of all the ways they could be monstrous together. He imagined hunting with her, chasing her through the pitch black of some cold winter night. He salivated at the thought, his teeth elongating in his mouth as the edge of the Change crept over him.
"You break all the chains humanity would put on me."
"Parker, a beast as glorious as you should never be in chains."
He managed to rein in his beast, and his dick, enough to establish control. "If they weren't waiting on me for that war council... the things I would do to you."
"Why don't you do them to me afterward? We might as well enjoy our current situation, right?"
He nipped her neck with his human teeth and she shivered. "Might as well."
Only, they didn't move. He still had her pressed against the wall, and her body was still arched against his in carnal invitation.
"We should go," he said.
"We should," she agreed easily.
His wolf growled at the idea of letting her go. He wanted to mark her again. He was pissed that his mark hadn't stayed. How to explain to the animal side of him what his logical mind accepted? He didn't know.
But she seemed to. "Your wolf, he's angry his mark his gone."
"That seems to be the problem."
"What are you waiting for? Mark me again." She turned her head to the side. "I like it. No, correction, I fucking love it. It's like an orgasm all on its own."
"I've heard it's painful."
"Just enough to get me off. Do it."
The beast didn't have to be told again. His Change overtook him and he sank his jaws into her bared throat. Her acid blood burned his tongue, but the burn had become an addiction. He loved the taste of her.
She spasmed in his arms, and the scents rolling off of her were pure l
ust. "Don't stop," she gasped. "More."
He kept his teeth clamped around the curve of her neck until she stopped shuddering and tried to pull away. He released her and his wolf settled down, contented. Not so much for his cock. He was hard enough to hammer nails through titanium.
Her face was flushed, her hair a mess. She looked like she'd just been fucked and fucked hard. The mark on her neck was healing slowly.
She put her hand to the wound, still breathing heavy. "Damn." She licked her lips. "It just keeps getting better between us. Will you come find me after the council so we can finish what we started?"
"I don't know that I should bite you again so soon. Our bites are known to be poisonous to each other."
"It doesn't seem to be so with us. I haven't felt these things you make me feel in... it's been so long, I don't know if I've ever felt them. It's like a drug, and I want it again as soon as I have my hit."
"Who am I to say no, then? I've always been an accommodating lover," Parker said, his veneer back in place.
"It's wild how you do that."
"What?" He arched a brow.
"One moment you're all owly growly ready and able to tear someone's face off and the next, you're this playboy who hasn't a care in the world. I want to ask which one is the real you, but they both are, aren't they?"
"That's the duality of the man and the beast, I suppose."
They walked the rest of the way in a comfortable silence. When he finally got them to the R&D wing, he knew he had to make a quick exit, or he wasn't going to leave her. He knew she was safe with David, but he wanted to stay by her side.
That wasn't the beast, it was the man. He wanted to stay with her because he knew this couldn't last forever and he wanted to drink down every second they'd been given.
Chapter 6
She had no idea what to expect when she met David Rutger.
Belle hadn't had any real interactions with other vampires in so long, this was a balm she hadn't realized she needed. It was strange, the way all of her senses were at war with themselves.
Her survival instincts told her to run, but her logic said to stay. Her heart, however, demanded another kind of connection.
So she hugged him.
He returned the embrace with a gentle, almost fatherly sort of affection. Or what she rather imagined fatherly affection felt like, how she'd built it up in her head. She couldn't remember her father ever hugging her.
Yet, she missed him all the same.
"It is so very good to meet you," David said as he released her. His eyes were bright with a predatory gleam so common to their kind. He seemed to regard everything with a fiery intensity that wasn't common among their kind. Cold predation, sure. But there was a fire in this creature that burned hot and bright, it radiated out of him in waves.
"You as well," she said. "I haven't met another of my kind in a long time. At least, not one that wanted to help me."
"I believe we can help each other."
"Yeah, I guess I am the holy grail." She shrugged. "I'm happy to give you samples of my blood, but like humans, it's all about what you put in your body as to what you get out of it."
"They tell me you're a natural born vampire. Perhaps there is some alchemy in that, that we, as Turned do not have."
"As you've probably guessed, vampirism is a mutation. Many believe it to be an evolution. I'm not a scientist, so I don't know." She smiled. "I mean, I remember when they first proved the existence of animalcules that cause diseases. That was practically magic, even to someone like me. But still, I don't think I'm much different."
"I can't help but wonder if the cure for what we are isn't in your blood."
"I don't think we're sick. We're simply apex predators, like the werewolves. But we can choose what we eat. In my youth, werewolves only ate people. Now, they've adapted. They've changed through choice and I believe we can, too. Especially if it means being able to walk in the sun again."
David nodded. "I was studying vampire blood before I was Turned. It seemed that even though vampires consumed the human cells, it had a degrading effect on the tissue."
"Exactly. Eat clean." She grinned.
"May I take samples?"
She held out her arm.
"I have needles that will pierce your flesh, but they will cause pain."
"I don't mind, but don't get too caught up in this cure thing, okay? We're exactly who we're supposed to be. I wouldn't want to be cured. I've seen ages pass this world and I've lost people I loved, but I wouldn't change what I am."
David slid the needle into her arm. "But you already have changed what you are."
"No, I changed what I eat. That's all." She watched the play of emotions on his face and there was one, overwhelming trait in all of them. He was starving. "Oh. I forgot that Parker had told me you were Kumarin's get. His progeny are different than all others. You can't survive on an animal diet. You must feed off humans or other vampires. You're surviving now, but you're hungry." Her heart broke for him. She could see the humanity still in his eyes and it was at war with the predator inside of him. It would devour him from the inside out, until everything good about him was gone. She didn’t want that for him.
David put the syringe down and looked up into her eyes. "Yes. All the time. I'm afraid to leave Aphelion. The magic here, I think it's all that's keeping me sane."
"Have you told Blake?"
"No. I don't want to worry Randi."
"I understand wanting to shoulder this on your own, but you need help. Let me help you." She was sure her blood would be the fix he needed. If it would be permanent or not was another matter entirely.
"How do you know that you can?"
"Our bloodlines are...similar. My father made Kumarin. He is a corruption of what it means to be Asakku."
"How does that matter?"
She offered her wrist again. "Have some."
"I don't think that would sit well with your mate. These wolves tend to be very possessive." He didn’t even have to open his mouth for her to know his fangs had descended.
She smiled at that. "Yes, they are. Very. But Parker is also logical and he loves you. He told me that you were pack. It's what these wolves do, isn't it? They make you part of them." No matter how beautiful that sounded, she couldn't let it happen with Parker. Eventually, whatever ground she'd win with the Asakku would have to be surrendered. This wasn't a forever proposition. Belle couldn't do anything about that now.
What she could do was something about was this poor baby vampire struggling to hold on to his humanity while learning to live his new life. Her blood could nourish him like no other.
He held her wrist in his strong, gentle hands. The hunger in his eyes pierced her.
She was the mother now, and he the child. "Drink."
He was careful as he bent over her wrist and she didn't even feel his fangs as they pierced her skin. Feeding, the sharing of blood, among their kind was known to be erotic, but this wasn't like that at all. As she'd imagined earlier, it was almost like feeding a child. He didn't take any more than she wanted to give him, in fact, she thought he should've taken more. When he pulled back, she could immediately see the difference.
His pale skin, stark and chalky, had turned golden and warm. The gray at his temples had gone, and his hair was thick and dark. His shoulders were wider, his chest more broad. He hadn't been a large man to begin with, but now, he was in the prime of his youth.
"I feel much better, thank you."
"Did you see anything when you took my blood?"
"I saw history. I saw... I don't know if I can believe what I saw."
"You can." She nodded. "I was there."
Looking down, he held out his hands, examining the changes her blood had already wrought. "What's this?"
"A gift, perhaps. I hope."
"If Kumarin was as you are, made by your father, why is he so pale? His eyes red? Is your father like Kumarin, or like you?"
"He is like Kumarin, but once, he was li
ke me. When he was very young, he refused the blood of humans. It was a story he told me to convince me to feed, instead, it only convinced me that we didn't have to be monsters."
"Thank you for the hope that I don't have to be a monster."
"You don't."
"That's what I tell myself, but when the blood bags and the deer aren't sating that hunger, and it gnaws at my insides, I wonder how long my humanity will hold on."
She made a decision then and there. "You don't have to find out. I'll supply you. You should find that what you took will keep you sated for a few days. As you age, as your body acclimates to my blood, it will keep you sated for weeks. You may even be able to phase out to only animal blood."
"You don't have to do that."
"I do, though. You see, it's my fault Evgeni Kumarin is what he is. If there's a small thing I can do to help right any of the wrongs he's inflicted on the world, I'll do it. You should be able to store my blood as you did the human. The great thing about vamp blood is that it won't lose its potency like animal and human blood."
"This is almost too good to be true," David said.
"I believe that after enough time passes, that you will be like me. But if not, I can feed you always."
"No wonder they want you back so badly." He shook his head. "You could change them all. They'd drain you dry." There was a tone of what sounded like awe in his voice.
"Some would. Perhaps my father would even let them to teach me a lesson in obedience."
"Woolven won't let that happen. Parker won't let that happen," David reassured her.
"You know, this thing with Parker and I, it was an accident. A mistake."
"Some of the best things are. We all end up places we never thought we would. My daughter came to Aphelion with revenge in her heart. She was going to bring down Woolven Industries, and specifically Blake. She believed that he was the one who killed me." He gave her a lopsided grin. "My fault entirely, of course."
"How so?" She cocked her head to the side.
"I was trying to warn her. Trying to get her to go to Blake for answers and protection, but I was dying. I only managed to write his name before I died."
The Mate Mistake (The Woolven Secret Book 3) Page 5
