by Tanith Frost
I hold back a surprised gasp. I had no idea there were that many.
“The females were the first to split, ’bout a decade ago,” Paul continues. “Though I suspect old Irene’d had enough of Joseph’s shit long before then.” He gives me a significant look. “Joseph being the oldest pack leader, mind you. Irene used to come in pretty beat up when she was with them, but what was she going to do? Can’t roam without a pack here, so she put up with it. But others came along, like Violet here, and they split from the old pack neat as you please as soon as there were enough that they could defend themselves. Mostly.”
The wolf, Violet, narrows her eyes.
“Third pack split just two years ago. Silas, now, he’s old Joseph’s grandson. I don’t know what set that off, but he took nearly half the old pack with him. Don’t imagine Joseph was too keen on that.” He shakes his head. “They wouldn’t tell us what was going on even if we cared. We just make sure they stay in line and don’t make trouble.”
“You might want to watch closer,” Daniel says. “We saw four of them out of bounds tonight, chasing a young moose. Almost ran over three of them. The fourth looked like we were stepping on his territory, but they had to be a kilometre outside of the sanctuary.”
Paul scowls. “Silas. I’d bet money on it. Arrogant little shit, always was. Becoming a pack leader has only made him more troublesome, though it’s not usually anything this risky.” He chews his lip for a second and shrugs. “We’ll deal with him later. Time for you two to get settled. Shut the lights off on the way out.”
“Wait,” I say, and nod at Violet. She hasn’t lifted her head yet, and looks completely depressed lying there with her shoulder and flank bandaged. She seems to have no interest in the meat in her dish. “You just leave her in the dark all day while you sleep?”
“She might appreciate the dark,” he says, and snorts. “Their week’s almost up. I might come back in here and find a lovely naked lady in this cage. Better to leave the lights off and give her a chance to holler for a blanket if she—”
Violet lunges, leaping at the bars and crashing into them face- and paws-first, clawing and snapping. The change from listless to enraged is instant, but Paul spins away before she gets her snout through the bars. Her teeth remain bared in a terrifying snarl as she falls back and lands on all four paws, then paces the cage.
“Bitch,” Paul mutters. “I was gonna toss you a blanket. Come on, folks. I’ll show you to your rooms.”
He stalks out of the room before I can respond. I don’t know what I would say, anyway. I want to yell at him for belittling her, insulting her, laughing about females and what he perceives as our problems as though two of us weren’t standing right here.
Daniel is watching me closely. My thoughts must be written on my face. “You going to talk to him about that?” he asks.
“Not now.” Right now I don’t know whether Paul is reporting back to Miranda, and if he is I can’t have she sided with a wolf be the first thing the elder hears.
Loyalty is what I need to project here, to Maelstrom and vampire-kind. I’m not here to make friends with these wolves.
Still, I stop on the way out of the room, grab a couple of thick grey blankets from the shelf beside the door, and shove them through the bars of Violet’s kennel.
She growls at me, low and long, before pulling the blankets back with her paws and starting on a nest of sorts that she settles into, her back facing the door.
Paul hands us our own key rings when we return to the common room, then shows us to our rooms in the hallway that forms the other arm of the L-shaped building. I flip through the keys as we walk. I assume the one that’s notably larger and heavier than the others is for the entry door in the garage, but none of them are marked.
“You’ll be here in number two, Daniel, for as long as you stay,” Paul says, unlocking the second door we come to on our left. This corridor has them on both sides at irregular intervals. Other than that, it’s identical to the other hallway in its stark lighting and derelict chill. “I’m next door in one if you need anything. Bathroom across the hall.”
I don’t get a chance to look into the room before Paul is leading me further on. I expect him to stop at room three, right next to two—all of the numbered rooms are along the outside wall—but he continues down to room eight at the end of the hall.
“This’ll be yours here. There’s another bathroom across there, shower and all.” He steps into my room, and I follow. It’s sparse, but not without potential. The window is covered by a heavy blackout blind that’s already pulled down against daylight. Paul clicks on the lamp beside the bed, which fills the space with pleasant shadows cast by the dim bulb. There’s a double bed, which surprises me. I’d expected something more like a college dorm. And while the furniture isn’t exactly high-end, it’s not discount store crap, either. There’s a solid-looking wooden desk with a big hutch over the top to hold my books, a matching wardrobe beside the door, and two bedside tables. They don’t match each other or anything else in the room, but they’ve both been painted white.
Paul is watching me. He shrugs. “It’s not much, I guess, but it’ll feel like home soon enough. Fire exit’s at the end of the hall there. Locked to the outside, of course.”
“Of course. Do they try to get in here?”
He snorts. “Nah. But the thing is, that doesn’t mean you can trust them. The second they see security slip, who knows what they might do? Bad enough they dig under the fence.”
“Do they attack?” I keep my tone light, as though the thought doesn’t bother me in the least. Daniel taught me not to let worry show. It’s a sign of weakness, and anyone might take advantage of that. As far as Paul knows, I can single-handedly wrestle an adult werewolf to the ground. I’m not about to convince him otherwise.
“They generally leave us alone as long as we do the same for them,” he says. “We’re keeping the peace here, or trying to.” He narrows his eyes. “That’s all, you see. You’re young, but I’m sure you’re not coming in with idealistic notions about making peace between the packs and everyone sitting around a campfire singing songs, vampire and were alike. Right?”
I laugh, just a little. “Hardly. I’ll be happiest if they leave us be and don’t get me in trouble with the elders.”
“Good plan.” He sets his hands on his hips and nods slowly. He seems relieved. “I think we might get along just fine here. Welcome to the sanctuary, kid. I’ll be in my room if you need me.”
I take a quick peek out the window to get my bearings. The building casts long shadows toward the fence, but it’s already light enough out that I’m glad to have heavy curtains to close me off from the world. The barren yard slopes down from the front of the building, placing my window high above the ground. Otherwise, there’s not much to see.
I’m in the middle of unpacking my clothes when my phone buzzes with a text from Daniel.
You alone in there?
Daniel’s message sends a thrill through me. I got to feed one of my beautiful addictions last night, but I won’t be satisfied until my other need is met.
I respond immediately.
I am. And so very lonely.
I time him. Eight seconds later, there’s a knock at my door. When I open it, Daniel lunges. I sidestep him and close the door, laughing. “Did you miss me that much after a whole ten minutes apart?”
He stalks toward me. He really is gorgeous. Even for a vampire, and most of us aren’t too hard to look at. He looks me over, drinking me in. I haven’t changed out of the jeans and t-shirt I wore for the drive. Nothing special, but that hardly matters. Judging by the look in his hazel eyes, I won’t be wearing anything for much longer.
“You have no idea how much I’ve missed you these past few months,” he murmurs as he reaches for my waist. I step into his embrace, and his other hand cups my face. He trails his fingers across my cheek, then brushes my long hair back over my shoulder, revealing my neck.
I’ve learned that i
t’s considered an insult and a violation for a vampire to bite another’s throat as though we were mere stock. That doesn’t stop the thrill of anticipation from shooting through my limbs as he leans in and trails his lips over the place where my pulse once raced. My body melts in his arms.
“I’ve missed you, too,” I whisper. It’s been hard. Our visits in the hospital were always awkward. There was only so much I wanted to hear about how things were going with his hunt. It was difficult not to envy his freedom even as news of his captures pleased me—I never had anything new to report to him after my long, boring nights of craving a kill.
I never told him how deep those cravings went. I probably never will.
But he’s here now, with as much privacy as we’re going to get. I’m not going to waste it mourning the months we lost or grilling him about what else he did while I was locked away.
Or who. I can’t even think about that.
I take his face in my hands and force his head away from my shoulder, where he’s driving me crazy drawing slow patterns with his tongue. I’m willing to fight him for a proper kiss if I have to, but he doesn’t object to the interruption. His lips meet mine hard and fast.
He’s always so composed and controlled. I love that I make his armour slip.
As his tongue probes my mouth, our venoms mix, and I feel my desire deepening. It’s not like the heady dose that would course through a living victim’s bloodstream during a feeding, but it’s still so good. The sharp taste of his saliva sends a thrill through my body, and I’m reminded of the last time I had him in my bedroom. We were both desperate then, as we shed our roles as trainer and student and let ourselves feel the attraction we’d buried for so long. It was rough, violent, and perfect.
I wonder what else we can do.
I pull my face away from his, and he pins me against the wall.
“Wait,” I tell him. “I want to go slower this time.”
He growls softly into my ear. “You know, there are parts of the world where a vampire made by another is indebted to him and expected to act as his slave until he releases her.”
I laugh. “Too bad for you we’re not in one of those places. Stay.”
I push him away and slip out of my t-shirt, revealing a lacy black bra that doesn’t hide my excitement well at all. He takes a step back, eyes never leaving me. I slowly undo my jeans and wiggle them down over my hips, holding my stomach tight, controlling every sensuous motion. I step out of the pile of denim and toward Daniel. He stays perfectly still as I press my body against his and reach down to trace the hard outline of his cock, visible beneath the fabric of his pants.
“You did miss me, didn’t you?”
His hand slowly rises to cup my left breast, massaging gently, rubbing his thumb over its most sensitive spot. I gasp, and he kisses me again as he reaches around me to run a finger under the edge of my panties, stopping as he reaches the wetness within. He smiles against my mouth, then nips the edge of my bottom lip.
“Tell me what you want,” he says, voice husky. “Just do it quickly, before I go insane.”
My fingers flick quickly over the buttons of his shirt, then work at the closure of his pants as he shrugs out of the shirt and reaches to unhook my bra. Moments later we’re both naked, and I push him back onto the mattress.
I only take a few seconds to enjoy the sight before I join him on the bed, straddling him, pinning him. As if he would try to escape. I kiss him again, tasting him, then trail my lips over his neck and chest.
He groans. “Aviva, please. Can slow wait for another day?”
He’s right. It’s not as though he’s leaving tomorrow, and I can’t stand to tease myself or him any longer. Not when the wait has been so long and so uncertain.
Maybe I can’t keep him forever, but I can have him now.
I position myself carefully, then sink my fangs into his shoulder as he slides into me. No tearing at him this time. Just the sharp, short pain of my bite and the faint pleasure diffusing slowly through him. I release him and lick at the pale blood that oozes from the wound. No pulse, no pressure.
I move slowly against him, and he runs his hands over my body as the pleasure builds in a tight ball deep in my core. I want to draw it out, make it last, but his experienced hands on my breasts tip the scales, sending me crashing over the edge into waves of bliss.
It’s not until the tides recede that I realize I’ve been crying out.
Daniel’s patience has reached its end. He flips me onto my back and enters me again in one smooth motion. We may only have fucked once before, but we’re as familiar with each other’s bodies as dance partners after our year of hard fight training. I wrap my legs around his waist and tilt my hips up, opening myself to him as he pushes me toward another rush of pleasure, pacing himself to draw out the sensations for both of us. I press my mouth to his injured shoulder to hold back the sounds I can’t help making as he drives me to the heights of pleasure again. The faintly metallic taste of his blood coats my tongue as he pushes harder into me and lets out a long, low groan. He shudders, rests his forehead against mine for a moment, and kisses me long and deep.
“By the stars, you’re beautiful,” he murmurs, brushing my hair back. It tangles around his fingers, but I hardly notice when he tugs out several strands as he frees himself. I don’t feel capable of experiencing anything but relaxed contentment.
He rolls off me and sits at the edge of the bed.
“Daniel?”
He smiles back at me, but a look of deep concern shadows his features.
“Everything okay?”
“A little too good.” He lies down again and traces circles over my body with one hand. “We have to be careful, that’s all. We can’t—”
“I know. We’re not breaking any rules, right?”
He frowns, then closes his eyes. “Not yet.” He plants a kiss over the bridge of my nose. “I should get to bed. You should do the same. Paul said we’re going to be heading out tonight to look for the pack we saw on the road.”
He dresses quickly, wishes me a good rest, and leaves.
I try to ignore the dull ache that fills my chest. I’m not going to be that girl. I know what this is, what we can have and what we can’t. He’s protecting me as much as himself by not spending the day sleeping beside me.
I remind myself that it’s not all bad. We’ll never break up. There will never be a “we should see other people,” because it’s a given that we will. We’ll both do as we please without being tied down, without becoming so involved as individuals that we might betray our loyalty to Maelstrom.
And we’ll get to fuck each other’s brains out, as long as that’s all it is.
I fold back the blankets and crawl into bed naked, telling myself that this is all a vampire could possibly want.
Chapter Three
The Jeep jostles over a dirt road that cuts through the deep forest of the sanctuary. It’s dark enough out here that even I have trouble making out details in the shadows. Daniel sits in the back, long legs crammed tight behind the front seats.
After a day of rest and too much time alone with my thoughts, I’m ready to start work. “Are we going to look for Silas?” I ask Paul.
His brow furrows. “If Silas and his pack are up to anything they shouldn’t be, odds are we won’t find them at home. I’ll take you out that way so you can get a sense of the place, but we’ll drop by old Joseph’s cabin first. He might be able to answer some questions.”
“But will he?” Daniel asks.
Paul snorts. “Met some wolves before, have you?”
“Just once. A pack up north that had escaped our notice for decades, but was causing problems when a small town expanded into their territory. Not the most cooperative species.”
“Aggressive, drooling animals,” Paul agrees.
“And that was when they were in human form.” Daniel sounds thoroughly unimpressed.
“Joseph’s not the worst of them,” Paul offers. “But no. I don
’t say he’ll tell us much in the end. It’s our job to try, and that’s all we can do. What do you think, Aviva?”
I shrug. “Never met one. They haven’t seemed friendly so far, but we’ll see how they are in human form.”
I turn back to face Daniel and find him smiling. I scowl at him. “What?”
“Don’t expect too much, Aviva. You might want to give them a fair shot, but they won’t offer you the same. You’re a vampire before you’re anything else to them. That makes you the enemy.”
Paul nods his agreement as he takes us around a corner and over a wooden bridge that spans a wide creek. “If you want to aim for peace, that’s good. We do just fine that way here, and no one has kicked the hornet’s nest in years, ’less you count Silas last night. Just don’t expect to make friends with them. You’ll be mighty disappointed. Nothing you do will change them, any more than they could change us.”
The Jeep climbs a steep hill. The road here is just dirt, not even gravelled over, and deeply rutted. I hate to think what it would be like after a rainstorm. The forest opens up into a small clearing at the top of the hill, and the headlights illuminate a good-sized log cabin. It looks like something out of a storybook, or maybe a vacation brochure for hard-core rustic types. Firelight glows inside the windows at one end. The rest are dark. There’s a fire pit outside with a big cast-iron pot set up over it, and clothes strung out on a line between the main building and a small shed.
The door opens, casting a square of light over the dirt yard, and a broad-shouldered silhouette fills the doorway. He holds a hand over his eyes, cutting the glare from the headlights, and steps out into the yard.
“Wait here a minute,” Paul tells us, and cuts the engine before he climbs out of the vehicle. The headlights go out, leaving us with just the light from the windows.
I roll my window down a crack so we can hear them.
“Evening, Joseph,” Paul says. “Fine night for a fire.”
Joseph grunts.
He’s tall and muscular, with a thick head of grey hair, but there’s a hint of the frailty of old age about him. He looks maybe seventy years old, but if he’s as physically fit as he looks, he could be older than that. The tanned skin of his face is deeply lined, and thick pewter eyebrows gather low over his eyes as he looks the Jeep over.
