Another miracle of modern vampire science—synthetic blood with all the right ingredients for a newly turned ancient. It helped her control the bloodlust and the violence that usually followed a transformation—but no modern medicine could take away the agonizing first few days and it was nearly undoing Kai watching Ember so vulnerable.
Once Kai had Ember comfortable and sleeping again, he left her in the loft and went outside to join Aksel on the porch. The bond had opened a channel between Kai and Ember and now he felt what she felt, no matter how far away he was. Even though he’d wanted to spend every second during her transformation at her side, the truth was there was still a war going on against his kind and New Dawn agents were tearing the area apart looking for him.
His second was on his cell phone with his back toward Kai. Everything in his body language told him that it wasn't a good conversation. Kai's senses sharpened suddenly as if the threat that Aksel was downloading from his phone conversation was actually in the woods around Ember's cabin.
Aksel ended the call and turned to face Kai, his face stricken.
“Raph’s team was ambushed last night on patrol around Melody’s apartment,” he said and Kai frowned.
Melody? His blood chilled. If they knew about Melody, then they knew about Ember, too, and they were out there hunting for the sisters now, just like they hunted Kai and his clan.
He swore.
“Casualties?”
Aksel shook his head.
“Raph’s hurt pretty bad but Cyrek thinks he’ll pull through. But they got Talos. Yanked him from the wreckage of the vehicle and disappeared with him.”
Kai swore and shoved his hands through is dark hair, his mind racing.
“Where are Raph and Cyrek now?” He asked.
“They’re with Nick and his team at the hotel right outside town,” Aksel replied.
Shit. This was bad.
Just as Kai was calculating their next move, Aksel’s phone shrilled. He glanced at the number and answered it quickly. From where he was standing, a few feet away, Kai heard the chaos on the other end of the line. Loud pops of gunfire and yelling.
Aksel listened to the voice, one of their men, giving the report, and hung up as he sprang into action.
“New Dawn found them at the hotel,” he said as he ran past Kai toward the house. “I need to get my gear and go help them before it’s too late.”
Kai’s mind raced. His team needed him right now—New Dawn agents were closing in and it meant their deaths if the goons got their hands on them. But his mate—his Ember—was incredibly vulnerable and every fiber of his being screamed that she needed to be by his side. That it was his duty to be with her through every second of the transformation.
He was at war with himself and wasting precious time.
Kai swallowed a rush of fear, reasoning that Ember’s cabin was still well hidden and that they’d be safe long enough for Aksel and him to get their men out of danger. Once they had, Kai would return and move Ember and Melody somewhere safer, even if she was still in transition. It would work, he assured himself over and over as he went inside to collect his weapons.
Melody stood in the center of the living room, watching the two men move like blurs of light.
“You’re leaving me here?” She hissed at Aksel. “I can’t protect Ember if something happens. I’ve never even been in a fistfight in my life!”
Kai didn’t miss the look of conflict that burned in Aksel’s dark gaze. There was something there between them—something had passed between the two of them already—and his second was just as torn about leaving Melody as Kai was about leaving Ember.
“You’ll do what you have to do, Melody,” he said, a stern look on his face. Kai knew what he was doing—he was refusing to show any emotions to keep Melody angry and aware. If she gave in to her fear or her self-pity, she would likely fall apart.
Kai moved to stand in front of Melody now.
“She’s had everything she needs for the day,” he said, pointing up to the loft. “She’s weak as hell, but she should be getting stronger and stronger. If you sense anything, Melody, and I mean anything out of place—you get in her truck and you two drive as far away as you can. Aksel and I will find you, no matter what.”
Twenty minutes later, they were down the mountain and Kai’s mind refused to settle—refused to focus on what possibly lie ahead of them. He’d given Ember a soft kiss on her sleeping mouth when left and he couldn’t shake the overpowering feeling of dread that surrounded him. Something was off and the sooner he and Aksel fixed this mess, the sooner he could get Ember out of this town and safely locked away on his island to properly recover.
Within the hour, they'd made it to the Lookout Inn's parking lot and straight into a war zone. Kai's men were pinned down inside a room on the second floor with New Dawn mercenaries strategically placed behind cars and other large forms of shelter.
His team had their natural abilities on their side—hard to kill, supernatural speed and the precision para-military training Kai had insisted on. New Dawn had sheer numbers and weapons on their side.
Kai and Aksel abandoned the Land Rover a block away and moved in silence through the darkening streets. Long accustomed to fighting beside each other, together the two vampires were a lethal unit all in themselves.
At the impending bloodshed, Kai’s fangs lengthened and his body primed for battle. They flanked to the sides of the New Dawn positions and began the methodical incapacitating of Rouvin Scala’s hit squad.
Kai chose an unfortunate soul who’d picked a spot behind a pickup truck by himself. Alone. His attention focused on the Arkos men on the second floor, he didn’t hear Kai approach or have time to react when his head was ripped to the side, forcefully severing his spine.
The body slumped to his feet and Kai picked up the rifle. With their abilities, weapons were overkill, but it was still difficult for him to let a good one go to waste—or end up in the wrong hands.
He heard screams from the parking lot and knew Aksel was cleaning up his side of the battle with a little more brutality and showmanship. Kai preferred efficiency and subterfuge. Aksel had a flair for the dramatic and a need to make a big impression.
Behind him, Kai heard a grunt and seconds later, a sharp pain tore through his hip.
“Motherfucker,” he grunted. Some asshole had just tried to shoot him in the back.
He turned just as the man in black fatigues raised the rifle toward his chest.
Shit. He might be immortal, but a shot to the vampire heart would seriously slow his healing abilities and his capacity to fight.
A blur from the assailants left flashed into Kai’s line of vision and he let out a breath he’d held on to. Aksel had appeared out of nowhere and obliterated the guy like an all-pro linebacker on a quarterback. A scream and a sickening gurgle let Kai know Aksel had finished the job.
“You shot, boss? Aksel noted the circle of blood on the side of Kai’s shirt widening.
"Yeah," he said. "I think so. How are the boys?" He pointed up to the second floor. He'd be fine. Eventually.
“Lemme check.”
Like a comic book hero, Aksel used his vampire abilities and flashed away, racing toward the room where their injured comrades had held the attackers off.
Kai surveyed the parking lot and swore. There were at least nine dead bodies strewn around and the gunfire would mean the police were surely on their way in minutes. This was one hell of a cleanup job.
Before he could start to develop any sort of response to the very messy situation they were about to leave behind, Aksel was back. His face tight, his jaw clenched and what Kai could only guess as fear in his eyes.
“What is it? Are they okay?” He motioned toward the room. Aksel nodded.
“Something’s wrong,” he bit out, his eyes darting madly about. “I don’t know, Kai—I just feel it. Something’s not right. Almost like I can feel Melody’s fear or hear her screams in my head.”
Kai pull
ed his phone out to call Ember. Before his thumb could hit the dial button, he was overwhelmed by a tidal wave of emotions. He staggered under the weight of his mate’s terror as it shot through him to his very core. She was afraid. Very afraid.
In a rage, the beast inside Kai rattled the bars to be set free to save his mate.
With a roar, Kai let his vamp out and raced toward Ember.
Chapter Ten
Ember dragged her eyes open and took in the details of her surroundings.
It was black. She couldn’t see inches in front of her face. There was a strap of material bound around her mouth, gagging her. Her hands and feet were both bound, as well. She hit resistance each time she tried to move. And beneath her—was that the sound of tires on a road?
Shit.
Ember was in the trunk of a car right now and it didn’t take a genius to guess that she was in the back of a black sedan—or that New Dawn was behind what had just happened to her.
From what she could tell, she was alone in the trunk. There was no sign of Melody. Had something happened to her sister? Had she managed to escape?
In her hazy fog of sleep, Ember had remembered Kai pressing a warm kiss to her lips and whispered promises that he’d return shortly—that he had no choice, but it would be quick. She’d drifted back to sleep and what felt like moments later, Melody had screamed.
Glass broke. The sound of wood splintering. Melody’s hysterical voice beside her in her loft.
“They’re here,” she cried, shaking Ember to wake her. “Please wake up, Ember, we have to go!”
Her eyes had flown open, but her vision swam.
Despite the effects of her turning, Ember had the clarity of mind to understand that she and her sister were in mortal danger and that Kai and Aksel were too far away to help them.
“Go,” Ember whispered to her sister. “Out the window and hide in the woods down by the lake where Dad used to fish.”
Melody protested and tried dragging Ember from the tangle of sheets around her legs. Though she was upright, her head swam violently. No, Ember wasn’t going anywhere.
"You're going to get us both caught if you fight me on this, Melody," Ember gasped. "Please. Get out of here and then help Kai find me. Memorize details. Anything you can give him. Please, Melody. Go."
And, as if she finally understood what was at stake, Melody had gone.
The men in her cabin weren’t delicate in their search. Glass shattered. Furniture was destroyed. Her life turned upside down and the tears pricked at her eyes just like they had when she watched her dad’s bar up in flames.
“Over here,” a gruff voice yelled. It was closer than the others. They must have found the hidden staircase that led up to Ember’s bedroom.
Bodies filled the doorway and one man pushed his way toward the front.
“Ready to play your part as bait?”
It was the one named Mitchell—the arrogant jerk who’d manhandled her in her own bar. Buzz Cut, she called him.
“Bait for who?” Ember asked with a shrug, but she saw Mitchell’s eyes go straight to her neck, obviously noting the claiming mark Kai had left behind.
One man to Mitchell’s right let out a low whistle.
"His mate, huh?" Mitchell asked as he cocked his head to the side. "Well, this just got interesting."
He wasted no more time and strode toward Ember. Her reactions were dulled and she couldn’t fend off the attack—a needle straight into her neck.
And then, nothing.
Her eyes slid open and she winced at the bright light.
How long had she been out? Looking around, she took in her surroundings. It was a warehouse of some sort. A large cavernous space, Ember tied to a chair in the middle. A single light bulb hung down from the ceiling and swayed above her head.
Ember also noticed her senses were heightened beyond anything she’d experienced before her turning. She could smell humans—in the distance—but there, nonetheless. Far away, she heard the rushing of water. A river, likely.
Glancing down, she noticed she was no longer in her shorts and tank top, the last thing she remembered wearing before Kai had claimed her.
She was now wearing faded blue hospital scrubs. A long dark braid fell over her shoulder and smelled like shampoo. Seriously? One of these sick fucks had bathed her, washed her hair, and then dressed her?
Rage boiled just below the surface. She tested the bonds holding her hands together behind her back. They didn’t budge.
“It’s no use,” a smooth voice said from the darkness in front of her. Footsteps clacked against the stone floor as the speaker moved toward Ember.
When the figure came into the light, she didn’t need to guess who it was. Scala.
“You’re still highly sedated and those ropes aren’t just any ropes. They have wards built into them to negate a vampire’s strength.”
Fan-freaking-tastic.
“Rouvin Scala,” she said and didn’t miss the blink of surprise that flashed in his eyes. He hid it away quickly, but she’d seen it, nonetheless. He was handsome, she’d give him that. Tall and broad, with tanned olive skin and dark features that cast him as the perfect brooding antagonist.
“Very good,” he said, clearly impressed. “I apologize for my lack of hospitality. And had you not allowed yourself to be turned into one of those beasts, I would have been able to let you leave once we had Malakai Arkos.”
There was a but coming, Ember felt it.
“…but now you’re a vampire and that simply won’t do,” he said, a false pity in his voice. He was toying with her.
There was no use in trying to deny what had happened between her and Kai. It was pointless, and the beast inside her scoffed at the thought of her denying that she belonged to Kai—his pull, his essence, that strong. He’d mentioned a couple times the fact that he was an alpha, and now that her new senses were starting to clear from the transitioning fog, she could feel just how strong Kai was.
And that he was coming for her.
The pull in the bond between them flexed and rippled in her core. She felt his rage. His pain. And his fear—for her.
“Why are you doing this?” She asked, looking up and blinking. The bright lights still hurt her eyes.
“Arkos didn’t tell you?” Scala cocked his head to the side.
"He mentioned you're afraid of wrinkles and your company is trying to come up with some crazy-effective anti-wrinkle serum," she said, a grin pulling on the edge of her lips at the scowl on his face.
She didn’t get to revel in the victory long. A pain cracked across the right side of her face and she winced against it. The asshole had backhanded her.
“Shut your dirty whore mouth, beast,” he leaned forward, breathing hard, just inches from her face.
Her senses caught it then. A different smell to him. Not completely human. There was more to this Scala person that he might even know. There was a frequency to him that was oddly familiar. Not identical, but a trace of something she recognized.
Ember narrowed her eyes at Scala and licked the blood from her lips, deciding to drop it for now.
“That hurt,” she said simply. Smiling. Scala backed up and wiped his hand on the back of his expensive looking black pants.
“Arkos had made my life miserable and now I’ve finally got a pawn that could bring him to his knees.”
The words were obviously meant for Ember, but the man was wandering in and out of the dim light and rambling.
“She’s going to be so proud of me,” he continued. “No more failures. No more pain. This will end it.”
Ember frowned. The man was violent, ruthless…and just a little insane?
“She who?”
His head snapped back to Ember and he bared his teeth.
“I warned you once to shut your mouth,” he said quietly. “I’ll remove your tongue next.”
Ember blew out a slow breath and weighed her options. She wanted to keep him talking and just a little unbalanced to buy Kai
a little time.
“I have a feeling this goes way beyond an immortality serum,” Ember said quietly. Loud enough for Scala to hear it, but not so overt that she sounded petulant.
“You have no idea,” he said quietly. “No idea what those monsters have done to my family. I wish you’d be around long enough to hear the full story, but the minute Arkos arrives, I’m afraid I have to kill you. I need him to come unglued and it seems that murdering a mate in front of an alpha is the best way to shatter their power.”
Fuck.
This wasn’t good. Panic washed over Ember and she pulled at the bond between them, trying to close it down—to keep Kai from tracking her with it before she could come up with a plan. But it was pointless. The more she tried to block the sensation, to push it away, the harder she felt Kai pushing on it from his end.
And he was so much stronger than she was. Calm replaced the panic she was feeling and she realized that Kai was forcing the emotion on her—that he was capable of calming her across the bond. His power and his energy spread across her skin.
Just like that, Ember wasn’t scared anymore. She’d felt just a fraction of Kai’s power across the bond and she knew he’d let his own beast out.
New Dawn, and especially Rouvin Scala, had severely underestimated the power of an alpha male like Kai.
Scala must have felt the change in her and he turned back, his lip peeled thin over his teeth.
“Nothing is going to stop what’s coming.” He meant it as a threat. He didn’t know just how right he was.
Ember smiled at the prick and closed her eyes.
Hell was coming and this poor idiot didn’t have the common sense to be terrified.
Yet.
Chapter Eleven
When the dilapidated building came into view, it was all Kai could do not to rip the roof open with his claws and jump free.
“Easy, Malakai,” Aksel warned from the driver’s seat. “You know it’s a trap. They’re going to try to destroy you using her.”
Kai didn’t answer, but the monster inside him snarled.
Bonded to the Alpha Wolf: Paranormal Bad Boy Werewolf Interracial BBW BWWM Witch Romance Page 16
