She hurried away, leaving Brolach alone with the three others. He ran his gaze over his brother and sister. Torger was just as tall as he was, and had the same muscular frame. Kaisa was a littler taller than Waverly and had a slim build. He found it hard to believe he had siblings, let alone two of them. He thought back to when his mother had been alive and pregnant. She’d said she swore there was more than one baby inside her, kicking her in the ribs. She’d mostly been joking since twins were a rarity for vampires and werewolves alike. It explained why her belly had gotten so large. His father had said she was bigger than she’d been when pregnant with Brolach.
Waverly returned with a smile. “We’re all set to go. You guys can follow me to the house.”
They headed to the parking lot. Brolach and Waverly climbed into her car while Cameron got into another and Torger and Kaisa into a third. Waverly pulled out onto the street with the other two cars following behind. So many questions whirled through Brolach’s mind on the short trip home.
After they arrived, Waverly unlocked the front door of the house and waited for everyone to come in before she shut it. They went to the living room and spread out on the couch and two armchairs.
Once they were settled, Brolach looked at his brother and sister, who’d taken the armchairs. “You said you’ve been searching for me for a long time.”
“Yes,” Kaisa said, speaking for the first time. “We knew you still had to be alive since you’re a hybrid, a true immortal, like us.” She motioned to Torger.
“How did you know about me?”
“Our parents told us.”
“Parents?”
“Kaisa means our adoptive parents,” Torger said. “Our father was one of the hunters who came to investigate the fire. He found the remains of our birth parents. He also found Kaisa and I lying in the ashes of our birth mother. He wrapped us in his shirt and brought us home to his wife. They had no children of their own.”
“Our parents had known our birth parents and you,” Kaisa said, jumping back into the conversation. “We were raised on stories of our true family. How they’d come from the gods, and how different they’d been.” She met Brolach’s gaze. “When they couldn’t find your body, they thought you might have escaped and hid somewhere. All the hunters of the tribe searched for days for you, but never found you. They then figured the ones who’d killed our birth parents had taken you away with them.” She paused. “It’s only been recently that we learned that wasn’t what happened to you.”
Brolach shook his head. “It isn’t. It was vampires who killed our parents. Our mother’s family.”
“We learned that,” Torger said. “It took us many, many years to find out what lands our birth parents had come from, and who had murdered them. A lot of the family have moved to different countries, with quite a few living throughout the States. We’ve been hunting them down, trying to get the true story of what happened here in South Dakota on the day of our birth.”
“I can tell you that,” Brolach said with a sigh. “The vampires set fire to our home to flush us out. They captured our mother once she ran outside. They lied and told our father they’d let her go if he surrendered to them. They bound him and I with ropes threaded with silver, then burned our mother at the stake. While she screamed as the flames claimed her, they cut our father’s head off. They tried three times to do the same to me, but I healed instantly.”
“Fuck,” Cameron said from where he sat next to Brolach on the couch. “Three fucking times?”
“What happened to you after that?” Kaisa asked.
“They kept me bound, thinking the silver weakened me and buried me on a hill in the grasslands. I let them.” Brolach paused and looked at his brother and sister. “I went to ‘sleep.’ If I’d known the two of you lived, I wouldn’t have given up.” He shook his head. “I didn’t awaken until Waverly came to the hill a few days ago. She was the one who suggested I could have a hybrid sibling out there who’d survived the fire that took our mother. It never occurred to me since you hadn’t been born.”
Kaisa stood and came to stand in front of Brolach before she went on her knees. She took his hands in hers. “You didn’t do anything wrong. As you said, you didn’t know. We’ve found each other now. You, Waverly, Torger and I can be a family.”
“Hey, what about me?” Cameron asked.
“Sorry. You, Waverly, Torger, Cameron and I can be a family.” She leaned in and hugged Brolach, then stood and turned her head to look at their brother. “At least we know that snitch of a vampire in Finland was right about Brolach being buried.”
Torger nodded. “That also means he could have been right about our mother’s family keeping watch over where they did bury him.”
Brolach stiffened. “The vampires are here in Lemmon?”
“We’re not sure yet. Cameron, who is a very close friend, originally came here to see if he could find any clues left behind that could tell us what happened to you.”
Cameron snorted. “After two thousand years, it’s been like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
Torger smiled. “You know you enjoy it.” He turned his gaze back on Brolach. “He’s known for having a knack for finding people. Anyway, we were in Finland up until yesterday. We’d gotten the information about you being buried alive and an estimation of where you were. We told Cameron, who was going to do some searching. The day he met you in the coffee shop was when he’d planned to go to the grasslands.”
Cameron chuckled. “You have no idea how shocked I was to run into you and Waverly. I knew from your scent you were a hybrid. With the name Brolach, I would have to be an idiot not to put two and two together. Plus, there’s the fact you look like Torger and Kaisa.”
“So that’s why you’ve been hanging around the coffee shop so much,” Waverly said.
The werewolf nodded. “Torger asked me to keep an eye on Brolach until they could get to Lemmon.”
Waverly shook her head. “And to bug the crap out of him by using me.”
Cameron shrugged. “What can I say? I was bored.”
Torger laughed. “Cameron’s boredom has gotten us into a few messes over the years.”
Kaisa rolled her eyes. “I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve gotten your dumbasses out of them.”
Brolach watched the interaction between his brother and sister with Cameron. It was easy to see they shared a friendship that had lasted a great many years. He ached to have that kind of closeness with Torger and Kaisa. He doubted he’d ever forgive himself for not being there for them on that fateful night. He had no idea what would have happened to them if they hadn’t been adopted by that native couple.
Waverly laced her fingers with his. “Stop,” she said quietly.
“Stop what?”
“The expression on your face says it all. You didn’t know they were alive, but now you’ve all found each other. You have an eternity to be with them.”
“You’re right.”
Brolach leaned toward Waverly and kissed her, putting the love he had for her into it. Once he pulled away, he found the three others in the room watching them.
He cleared his throat. “So, what do we do about the vampires who may or may not be around here?”
“We’ll keep an eye out for them,” Torger replied. “If someone is watching over where you were buried, they could already know you’ve awakened. If they do, the ones we really want, those vampires who were the ones to kill our parents, may come to try to finish you off. I’m hoping they do. They need to pay for what they did.”
Brolach couldn’t agree more. The faces of the vampires who’d ended his parents’ lives were forever etched in his mind. He looked at Waverly. If his enemy did come for him, he’d have to do everything in his power to protect her. Even if he turned her, she’d be just as vulnerable as his mother had been. The only way to keep her truly safe was to put an end to the ones who’d threaten her. He wasn’t sure if he could survive if something happened to her, if she were taken from
him. Even though he knew of no means that would end his immortal life, he wouldn’t give up trying. Going to ground and “sleeping” wouldn’t work. Not with his mate’s passing. Only the finality of death would suffice. Now that he’d found her, he understood why his father had given up so easily after the death of his mate. Life no longer held appeal without the woman you loved in it.
* * * *
It was late into the night before Torger, Kaisa and Cameron left Waverly’s place. Brolach spent a great deal of those hours learning more about his brother and sister. They also discussed plans on what to do if there truly were vampires around town. There was a good chance they’d have human servants who’d do their bidding during the day when they couldn’t be out. There was no way the others would know who they were. The servants’ scents remained human. For Waverly, it was a bit of a scary thought. She wouldn’t know who to be wary of.
Alone at last with Brolach, Waverly could tell he was lost in his thoughts. They sat together on the couch watching television. He hadn’t said more than a couple words since his siblings had left. He also had a faraway look in his eyes. She decided a distraction was in order.
She turned off the TV with the remote, put it on the table at the end of the couch and stood. Waverly turned toward Brolach and held her hand out. “I think it’s time we went to bed.”
He seemed to come back to the present and looked up at her. “I’m not tired yet.”
She smiled. “Who said anything about sleeping?”
Brolach put his hand in hers and stood as she pulled him up. She led him out of the living room, down the hall and into the bedroom. She turned the lights on with the switch before heading to the bed.
Once she reached it, she put her arms around his waist and rubbed up against him. “I think we have to do something to pull you out of your thoughts. I know exactly what you need.”
He cupped her face in his hands and tilted it up. “You do?”
“Yes. Something we’ll both enjoy.”
“I think I know what that will be.”
Brolach bent his head and brushed his lips across hers. Waverly sighed. “Yup, that’s part of it.”
The kisses they exchanged became more carnal with each article of clothing they took off each other. Once they were naked, Waverly was well on her way to being completely aroused. Brolach lifted her and placed her on the center of the bed before he followed her down. He covered her with his body, his cock coming to rest between her legs, but he didn’t attempt to enter her.
He took her mouth once more in a heated kiss. She pushed her tongue inside his and licked each of his fangs that were fully extended. He moaned. During the many times she’d made love to Brolach, Waverly had found those long canines of his were an erogenous zone much like his cock. She’d also noticed he’d avoided using them on her.
He ran his hand down her side, then hooked her leg over his arm, spreading her open wider. He rocked into her, but still didn’t join their bodies. Waverly whimpered with need. She was more than ready to have him take her. It wasn’t until she reached down and dug her nails into his ass, trying to tug him forward, did he push the head of his cock into her wet pussy.
Waverly lifted her hips, and Brolach sank deeper. He set a slow and steady pace, which drove her crazy. She wanted him harder, faster, but he had other ideas. No matter how hard she set her nails into his backside, he didn’t give her what she wanted.
“Brolach,” she moaned. “More.”
His upper body held up on his bent arm, he looked down at her. “Not yet.” His thrusts stop, and she groaned in frustration. “Patience,” he said. “I need to say something to you.”
“Right now?” she asked practically on a wail.
“Yes. It’s no better time than now with me buried so deep inside you I don’t know where I end and you start.” His jade-green glowing eyes looked into hers. “Waverly, I love you. You’ve given me a reason to stay in the world. Thanks to you, I’ve found my family.”
She reached up and caressed his cheek. “I didn’t do much about bringing Torger and Kaisa here.”
“No, but if you hadn’t come to that hill and awakened me, I might not have ever met them. For that, I can never repay you, except with my heart. My love.”
“Well, you already own mine. I love you, Brolach. I’ve never felt like this about anyone before. For me there will be no one else.”
With a moan, he pulled back and then surged into her. This time he gave her what she wanted. He thrust in and out at a quick pace. He angled his cock so it rubbed the right spot inside her to have an orgasm quickly building.
Waverly held on to Brolach’s wide shoulders. Closer and closer her climax came to the surface, her body coiling tight. Her eyes snapped open as a sensation like nothing she’d ever experienced before took hold of her. It was almost as if a piece of him reached out for a piece of her. Almost as if their souls met. Once the two halves wrapped around each other and became one, something instantly formed between them, invisibly tying them together.
It had her hurtling into an intense orgasm as she whimpered Brolach’s name. A wolf’s howl pushed out of him as he followed her into release. His cock pulsed deep inside her, filling her with his cum.
After he collapsed on top her, Waverly asked, “What was that? I felt something…different.”
Brolach lifted his head and kissed her. “That, my mate, was the werewolf part of me claiming you. The mate bond has formed. You’re now mine.”
“What about the vampire part?”
“It hasn’t yet. Not until after we’ve done the second blood exchange. Then that bond will form and you’ll be turned.”
Waverly pushed on Brolach’s shoulder until he rolled off her and lay on his back beside her. She sat up. “What do you mean I’ll be turned?”
“With the second blood exchange, you’ll no longer be human. You’ll be a vampire.”
“Hold on a second there. You mean like a real vampire who can’t go out in the sun and has fangs?”
“Yes. Plus, you’ll be immortal. You just won’t have the same true immortality that I do.”
“You never said anything about me being turned when you told me about the blood exchanges.”
Brolach pushed himself up in to a sitting position. “It’s the only way we can have forever together. I don’t want to lose you to old age. I thought you’d want that now that I claimed you.”
“I do, but it isn’t something I can do without taking my family in to consideration. How am I going to explain why I have to suddenly avoid the sun, and that I can only work when it’s dark outside? That wouldn’t work out too well in the summer when it stays light for a lot later.”
“We’ll figure it all out once you’re turned.”
“No, we’ll do that before the second blood exchange. This is a big life-changing step for me to take. I’m not going to do this without thinking everything through. You have to give me more time.”
Brolach blew out a breath. “I don’t know how much longer I can resist biting you. Now that we’re bonded, it’ll get even harder. Mated vampires can only feed from each other. Their bodies will reject the blood of anyone else. Being a hybrid, I don’t know if that’s already come into play for me since my werewolf side has finished the mating with you.”
Waverly quickly kissed him. “Well, I don’t want you experimenting to find out. I love you, and I do want to have an eternity with you. I only need a few days. That’s all I ask.”
“All right, but I won’t be able to make love to you again until you accept the exchange. You have no idea how hard I had to fight with myself not to sink my fangs into you just now. Your blood calls to me.”
“Two days. I promise.”
He kissed her thoroughly, his extended fangs gently brushing against her lips. All too soon, Brolach pulled away with a groan. “I’ll wait. I’d never push you into something you weren’t ready to accept. I love you too much to make you resent me like that.”
Waverly went a
nd turned the lights off before she climbed back onto the bed. “I know we can’t make love again, but can you at least hold me while we sleep?”
Brolach pulled the covers down, then gathered her into his arms before he positioned them so they lay stretched out on the mattress. He kissed the top of her head. “I’ll hold you all night.”
She closed her eyes. With her head pillowed on Brolach’s chest, the sound of his heartbeat lulled her to sleep.
Chapter Seven
The next day, Brolach and Waverly were at the coffee shop to work their shift. Before they left their house, she’d said she’d talk to her dad about getting them switched off the dayshift. She hadn’t come up with a reason, but figured she’d think of something before she talked to him, which she planned to do closer to the time they could leave.
So far, the day had been uneventful. Cameron, Torger and Kaisa had come by for something to eat and drink. They all would meet again at the house. Cameron had decided to do a little looking around town to see if he could up with any leads that would confirm that the vampires were indeed in Lemmon. His brother and sister would do a little hunting of their own as well.
It was close to the end of Brolach and Waverly’s shift when she came up to him while he washed a bunch of dishes in the kitchen. “I’m going to put some of the trash out in the Dumpster, then I’ll go have that chat with my dad,” she said quietly. “He’s in his office right now.”
“All right.”
Waverly gave him a kiss, then headed out the back door with a garbage bag in each hand. The sound of someone pretending to be sick had Brolach turning to look at Devin, who stood near one of the ovens, acting as if he were going to throw up.
“You two are so cute together it almost makes me sick,” Devin said.
Brolach threw a damp dish towel at Waverly’s brother, who easily caught it. “At least we have each other. I don’t recall seeing you with a girl. That’s right. You don’t have one.”
“Hey, man, that’s a low blow. I haven’t found Miss Right yet, but I’m always working on it. Not many women can resist my charm.”
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