The Alpha's Bite (Huntsville Pack Book 5)

by Michelle Fox

  Zion crept into the room, his dark suit allowing him to blend in with the shadows. I pretended to be unconscious, sagging in my chains and only leaving my eyes open a crack. He scanned the room, smiling when he spotted me.

  Stepping forward, he said, "Ah, excellent. It's true. You are having an auction."

  Davian carefully arranged expression of surprise on his face and spun around. "Zion? What are you doing here?"

  "Did you really think you could run from me?" Zion laughed. "How did you get out?"

  "This one," Davian pointed at me, "thinks she loves me. She wanted to save me."

  Zion looked my way, his expression thoughtful. "But she's not yours anymore, is she? I didn't feel you in her blood."

  Davian shrugged. "I hadn't fed from her in a while. The bite went stale."

  "Ah. I forgot. You're a weak vampire." Zion laughed. "My bite took over."

  "Probably, but she still thought she loved me. When she found out I was in the cell, she set me free. She didn't tell me you bit her." Davian shot an angry look my way. "If I'd know that I would've sucked her dry."

  "You're an amateur, Davian. Always have been."

  "Get the hell out of here!" Davian stalked over to Zion and crowded him backward. "This auction is invitation only and you weren't invited."

  "But all these girls will be mine, anyways." Zion side-stepped Davian and walked the room, inspecting each woman.

  "Your last blood ring didn't work out so well," Davian said.

  "Which is why these ladies are the perfect fresh start." He put a finger under Rebecca's chin and forced her to look at him.

  "I'm not selling them to you, Zion. You locked me up and framed me for your crimes."

  Zion shrugged. "No one's perfect. And who said I was buying them?" He spun around and stalked over to me.

  "Go to hell." A growl rumbled in my chest, rattling my rib cage. I yanked on my chains, wanting to rip out his internal organs, one by one, until he was the kind of dead that didn't suck blood out of the living.

  "That's impossible, I'm afraid. I'm not going anywhere I don't want to." His cold hand closed around my throat. "And I'm taking you with me. You're a problem I'm going to solve once and for all."

  His gaze locked with mine and the full weight of it crashed into my skull. Unable to close my eyes, I turned my head, hoping to regain control that way, but moving took so much effort my wolf became alarmed and whined. We were trapped and she didn't like it. Zion's hold on me pressed against my skin, heavy and unyielding. My heart fluttered fast in my chest, trying to give me the strength to run away.

  Zion squeezed my throat. "Look at me, Adele."

  "No."

  "I said, look at me." Anger throbbed in his voice. Using his other hand, he grabbed me by the cheeks and forced my head to turn.

  I gave a soft whine, unable to hold back my wolf's concern.

  "You're mine. Understood?"

  I fought with everything I had, but I couldn't stop him. Like Davian had said, Zion was in my head.

  Zion gave me a shake. "Say it."

  "D-Davian." His name came out of me in a high-pitched whine. I couldn't do this alone. Zion had shattered my will, and I'd lost all ability to protect myself from him. The shadow in my mind swelled, covering my wolf, but it didn't blunt Zion's hold on me.

  Davian stepped into the center of the room."Leave her alone. This is between you and me. I was the one the Vampire Council sent to find out what you were up to. Only you turned the game on me, made it look like I was the one selling and feeding on shifters."

  Zion let me go and edged toward Davian. "Yes, I did, didn't I? The Pack Council wanted someone's heart on a silver platter and the Vampire Council had promised to deliver. I preferred for it to be yours rather than mine."

  Zion and Davian circled each other. A thin smile danced on Zion's lips. He reached into his suit jacket. "And look, here you are. Even though you escaped. Are you sure this isn't your destiny?"

  Davian frowned. "What do you mean 'destiny?'"

  "To make me rich and innocent." Zion's hand moved faster than my eyes could track and cast a fine silver net over Davian.

  Davian dropped to his knees with a groan of pain.

  "Davian!" I screamed. Pulling on my chains, I tried to run to him, but the bolt in the wall held. Channeling my wolf, I yanked harder. Nothing. I tried again and again until the metal cut into my wrists and blood flowed down my arms.

  "It's silver soaked in holy water. Hurts like the sun, I know." Zion leaned down. "It'll keep you contained until the Vampire Council shows up. As for these morsels..." He shot a lascivious glance at each of us. "Being a good vampire citizen, I will have set them free to return to their packs, which in case you didn't know, is code for 'sold them to the highest bidder,' but we'll let that be our little secret, right?"

  Davian nodded to the women. "Now," he said.

  The women cast off their fake restraints and lunged for Zion. Sheri and Donna shifted into their wolves, leaving their dresses and shoes behind while Rebecca and Mona stayed human—although they too ditched their shoes. The four women quickly circled him and closed in, all of them growling until the very air vibrated with menace. Zion stepped back with a look of utter shock on his face. We'd surprised him.

  "Adele, protect me." His gaze sought mine and the power of his compulsion washed over me.

  Unable to deny him, my body fought the chains even harder. One of the cuffs cut my wrist to the bone and I yelped.

  "What are you waiting for? Get over here and kill these bitches," Zion yelled, swinging at the women trying to pile onto him.

  "I can't," I shouted back.

  The blonde darted forward and feinted with a jab to his face. When he moved to block her, she slammed a fist into his stomach. Sheri's sable furred wolf circled around to come at Zion from the back.

  "Take off his head," I said. "And rip out his heart." Once Zion was down, I didn't want him to ever get up again.

  The women worked in concert, attacking from multiple directions all at once. Overwhelmed, Zion couldn't keep up. He couldn't block all their hits, and they had him pinned against the warehouse wall in less than a minute. Unlike the night he killed Cal, the women were landing more punches than he was. He wasn't as strong this time. He hadn't fed on shifter blood. This could go our way.

  One of the women peeled away and went to Davian to lift off the chain. She winced when she first touched the silver. I knew the metal had scalded her skin, but that didn't stop her. Moving fast to minimize contact, she got it off him. The second Davian was free, he flew across the room and grabbed Zion by the throat.

  I continued to pull at my chains. The bolt wiggled a little now. If I ignored the pain and kept going, it would break sooner or later.

  Davian grabbed Zion by the neck and squeezed. Zion screamed, hands pulling at Davian's fingers. The sound started loud and then fell to a hoarse whisper. Probably because his vocal cords had been crushed.

  Zion fumbled with his pants and pulled something out of his pocket. He raised it over his head and I caught the gleam of light on metal.

  "He's got a knife," I shouted.

  Davian didn't seem to care, but the women backed off, leaving him to bear the brunt of the knife. Zion plunged the blade into Davian's neck. He sawed back and forth and blood spurted everywhere.

  "No! Do something. He's going to cut off his head." I used my feet as leverage, pushing against the wall and willing the chains to break. The women of Huntsville didn't move and neither did the chains.

  "Don't you dare let him die." Bracing my feet against the wall, I tried again. Desperation lent me an extra burst of strength, and this time when I yanked, the bolt holding my chains came out of the wall.

  The chains fell away and the compulsion to defend Zion danced over me, making my muscles twitch. The only way to fight would be to attack Davian. I couldn't go against Zion. I growled in frustration at that, but with Davian's head about to leave his body, I had to take the risk.


  I bounded over to where Davian and Zion were locked together. Davian's head sat at an odd angle, but he hadn't stopped squeezing Zion's neck. The vampire's eyes bugged out of his head from the pressure and his face had turned a sickly gray.

  "Here. Let me finish it," I said, figuring that fit with Zion's compulsion. Work with, not against, right? It would get the knife away from him.

  I reached for the knife and we grappled for control of the hilt, but his grip held tight. Davian swung a fist and punched him in the face. Zion didn't even grunt at the hit, he just kept sawing at Davian's neck.

  Closing my eyes and pulling on my wolf, I channeled her into my hands. The bones broke and rearranged themselves into a paw tipped with sharp claws. The compulsion pushed back at me, making it feel like I was shoving my will through gelatin.

  "I just want to defend you," I snarled through gritted teeth. "That's what you wanted."

  "Stop grabbing the knife," Zion said. "Just stop. Go aw—"

  He didn't get a chance to finish. He'd put power into his words and that had dissolved his earlier command. Finally. He'd made a mistake. One I would make sure he couldn't come back from. My hands dropped from the knife. I couldn't defy him there, but I didn't have any other compulsion dictating my next move.

  I covered his mouth with one hand-claw, silencing him, and then sank my other hand-claw into his chest, raking away his flesh. When I reached the ribs, I smashed through them, driven by pure rage. My wolf slavered in my head, desperate for blood. Pushing past shards of broken bone, I rummaged through his chest until I had what I wanted in my hand—his heart.

  With a quick twist to break the connective tissue holding it in place, I jerked it out of his chest. He must've fed on someone recently because a huge amount of blood poured out of him, splashing over my feet and up my legs. He finally went limp, his body sagging down to its knees and then sideways to the floor. I threw back my head and howled in victory. Zion would never tell me what to do again.

  My celebration didn't last long. Without Zion holding him, Davian collapsed to the floor. I dropped Zion's heart and knelt to hold Davian's head in place. Having your head half sawed off was life threatening, even if you were already dead. Scoring the inside of one wrist with my teeth, I made a fresh wound and held it against his lips.

  "Drink."

  He pressed his lips together, a steely determination shining in his eyes.

  "Drink, dammit. Don't you dare die on me." I lifted my wrist to my mouth and made the cut deeper so that blood gushed out in a torrent. Holding up my arm so he could see it dripping, I said, "Either drink or know I'll die with you. Your choice, Davian, but we either both walk away from this or neither of us do."

  His eyes narrowed and he didn't look happy, but he finally drank. My blood poured into him and his body knit itself back together from the inside out. Bone and sinew became whole, muscle grew over that followed by skin. I gave a sigh of relief when his head was wholly attached once again to his body. Seeing it hanging and half decapitated had been terrifying.

  Pushing away my hand, Davian sat up. "You didn't have to do that. I would have healed on my own."

  "Sure. Like a week from now. We don't have that kind of time." I gestured to the women who stood around us in a semi-circle. "We're not exactly among friends."

  "But now I've claimed you again."

  I ducked down and pressed my forehead against his so my gaze could bore into his. "That's okay by me. Got it? I didn't go through all of this for you to walk away again, understood?"

  He gave a slight nod.

  "Aw. She's in love with a blood sucker," said Mona's snide voice behind us.

  "Good. Maybe she'll die and leave us alone," said Rebecca.

  I straightened up and turned around. "What do you care? You've made it clear I'm not welcome."

  "You're a perversion, Adele. Sick. Twisted. Full of drugs and vampire blood." Sheri stepped toward me, anger flushing her features. "We should have killed you, not saved you."

  "I never turned my back on you." I snapped my teeth at them. "Never. Just remember that."

  Davian pushed himself to his feet and came to stand at my side. "Everything she has done has been to protect you and your pack. You should be thanking her. Without her, Zion wouldn't be dead."

  I pointed to Davian. "He was a major help, too. We're not your enemy. Vampires like Zion are."

  The women stepped closer, forcing us back against the wall. Low growling filled the air. They were going to attack.

  Before they could jump, Jackson and the other men spilled into the warehouse.

  "What's going on in here?" Jackson's voice bellowed above the fray.

  "Zion's dead," I said. "The ladies were just explaining how I wasn't welcome in the Huntsville Pack anymore."

  "She brought death to our pack, she's no friend of ours," Sheri said. "If she stays, we go." She looked to the other women who nodded their agreement.

  Jackson threw back his head and roared, filling the air with his alpha dominance. "She helped birth my son, the next alpha of our pack. She brought our enemies to us so we could destroy them, and you demand that I should kick her out. Do you believe the only people of value in a pack are the ones who never cause trouble? I heard you caused quite a stir before you were mated, Sheri. Dating humans and trying to bring them back to Hunstville. Shouldn't you leave, too?"

  She ducked her head. "No, alpha."

  "It's okay," I said with a nervous smile. "I think it's time to move on anyway. I appreciate everything you did for me, what Marie taught me, but Huntsville isn't my home."

  A flicker of relief flashed in Jackson's eyes before he hid it behind a level gaze. "Thank you for helping us," he said, his tone formal.

  "No problem. I wasn't going to let Zion live anyway."

  "If you need something, give me a call." He held out his hand. Flicking some bloody gore off my now human fingers, I put mine in his.

  "I will."

  Jackson offered his hand to Davian. "And thank you."

  "It was the right thing to do," Davian said, shaking hands with Jackson. "To protect Adele and prevent a war."

  "But you didn't owe us that."

  "I happen to believe we all owe that to each other."

  Jackson gave him a confused look. "Anyone ever tell you you're kind of odd for a vampire?"

  Davian just smiled.

  "Well, my pack owes you. If there's anything I can do, let me know."

  "I will, Alpha."

  Jackson waved to the rest of his pack. "Time to go home, folks. We're all done here." Everyone filed out, and Davian and I were alone, standing in a puddle of blood—mostly Zion's but also his and mine.

  "So," I said.

  "So," he echoed.

  "I should clean up." I waved toward the bathroom.

  "Good idea."

  "But I'm afraid you won't be here when I come back out."

  "I'll be here."

  "You sure?"

  "You'd just follow me, right?"

  I nodded. "Damn straight. My wolf says we belong together. She won't give me any peace until I find you."

  "I swear I'll be here. I'm not going anywhere."

  "No more running?"

  "No more running." He held out his hand and we shook on it.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Adele

  Normally, I liked the smell of blood, but vampire guts had a sour sun-baked road kill scent. Not a smell any sane werewolf would enjoy.

  It took a while to wash off all the gore. Both my eyes had gone black from hits I didn't even remember. I had several raw cuts on my arms, bruises all over the place, and my wrists were a mess of knife cuts.

  Blood soaked my dress, and grimacing, I peeled it off. Red, wet streaks ran over my torso. I wiped them off with the flimsy paper towels in the bathroom, trying not to bend my one wrist too much. The bone was still healing and I didn't want it to knit together crooked. Once I was as clean as I could get without a long shower, I put my regular clothes back o
n.

  When I returned to the main room of the warehouse, Davian wasn't alone. Marie had joined him, wearing a pale blue track suit and her silver hair up in a neat bun.

  "Adele." She held out her arms.

  "Marie. What are you doing here?" I gave her a careful hug, not wanting to bump any of my bruises or ruin her clothes.

  "I wanted to say goodbye."

  "Thank you for everything," I said. I would probably never see her again. Not with everyone blaming me for what had happened in Huntsville.

  "I hope I was helpful." She looked at the warehouse. "But I'm not sure I did you any good."

  "I don't think I'm a healer." I ducked my head, embarrassed. The one thing I was supposed to be good at, and I'd failed at it just like everything else.

  "No. You are. I'm certain of it, but you weren't meant for a healer's life. Not one like mine anyway. And I couldn't figure out why until I met this vampire of yours." She took my hand in hers. "Why didn't you tell me about the cloud around your wolf?"

  I gave a half shrug."I'd hoped it would go away."

  "Ah, but it's only gotten stronger hasn't it?"

  "How do you know?" I asked.

  "I didn't. Not until I met Davian tonight and then it became clear."

  "What is it? Why is it there?"

  "That's Davian's story to tell." She looked to Davian. "And you will tell her."

  He nodded. "Yes."

  She wrapped me in her arms again, her herbal scent washing over me. "I hope you will be very happy together."

  "Thank you."

  "And be sure to go see your sister before you leave. She's been worried sick, calling me every day and asking if I've heard from you."

  "I don't think the women of Huntsville would like that."

  She waved a hand. "I'll handle them. You have a good heart, Adele. I'm not going to let them convince anyone else otherwise."

  I rested my head on her shoulder for a moment, drinking in her strength. I would miss her. "You're an amazing bad ass healer, Marie."