Caine had remained silent throughout the drive, consumed with fear and anger, until he’d shifted.
“Have you found her?” The questioned echoed in his mind as they all asked Drake the same question.
“No, and the scent trail is getting fainter. I don’t know what this fucker is, but he’s fast.”
“Axel was at home. You’re heading in his direction, so we have the intruder blocked-in,” Cooper said. As pride enforcer, he coordinated all of the pride’s security. Being able to communicate telepathically when shifted gave the pride a huge tactical advantage when hunting prey. All kinds of prey.
“Thank fuck,” Caine said. Axel and Calder Wilder were the best trackers he’d ever known. Axel would find her.
Gabriel ran past him and disappeared in a blur. He’d forgotten how fast his big brother was, but he’d never seen Gabriel run that fast before.
“We’ve never had a mate in danger before,” Gabriel said.
“He’s stopped with her by the stream at bottom of our summer paddock,” Axel said. “We also have company coming in via helicopter.”
“Is she harmed?” Caine asked, pushing himself to run faster.
“She looks to be unconscious, but I scent no blood.”
Snarls of rage filled both the air and his mind, Rowan’s being the loudest as he ran beside him.
“I’ll kill him slowly,” Rowan said, ice in his tone and rage in his scent.
“Finn is here and I can hear Gabe coming in fast. We have him surrounded,” Axel said.
“This is no creature we have ever before encountered,” Finn said. “Until we know what we are facing, surround him, but no one will approach but me.”
The command went against everything Caine needed to do. He wanted to tear the thing apart for taking Jordanna, but it was impossible to disobey their Alpha’s command.
By the time he and Rowan reached the small clearing by the stream, Finn was stalking up behind a tall, solid-looking man who was standing over a prostrate Jordanna.
The snarl remained in Caine’s throat as they all silently circled close. How a cat as huge as Finn could move soundlessly was a mystery, but their Alpha could do it.
“I didn’t expect to encounter any cats when I began this mission. Had I known, I would have taken appropriate measures.” The man spoke with a cool nonchalance. It didn’t reflect the fear he should be experiencing with an angry, three hundred pound, Alpha mountain lion salivating to tear out his throat.
Finn’s roar shook snow from the trees. “Gabriel, see to Jordanna.”
Gabriel stalked forward to stand protectively over Jordanna. The creature moved three feet away from her, his palms held out in a gesture of surrender. “She’s alive. She appears unharmed,” Gabriel said.
Relief washed through Caine, but his anger didn’t lessen. The creature had to die for touching his mate and trying to take her from them.
“Of course she’s unharmed,” the man said. “I would never harm a human. My mission was only to find and retrieve her.”
Caine growled, low and loud. His hackles rose higher and he shook with the effort of remaining in the tree line. What was this creature? He had seemed to have heard Gabriel as clearly as they had.
“Why did you take this woman?” Finn moved to within inches of the creature, but it remained motionless. Caine could scent no fear emanating from him.
“I’m sorry, but the thoughts of an Alpha remain shielded from me unless we share a blood bond,” he gestured to Finn with his hand. “Either shift back, or speak through one of your pride. Whatever you feel most comfortable with.”
“As much as I am loath to accommodate this pompous prick, I need to find out what sort of a threat he poses to my pride. Cooper, please come closer?”
The huge Beta stalked from between the trees to stand at his brother’s side. Caine was amazed at the lack of concern on the creatures face considering the combined threat that Cooper and Finn posed to him.
Finn shifted in a shower of light and approached the creature. He was a few inches taller than the man but nearly twice as wide. Finn was almost as imposing as a human as he was as a cat.
“Why have you taken a member of my pride from her mates?”
Caine saw fear flicker across the man’s face for the first time.
“I was not told she would be a mate! He’d recovered quickly from his shock and once again appeared coolly arrogant. They had all been witness to his fear and it seemed to make him less of threat. Whatever he was, he knew they were capable of causing him harm.
“But kidnapping a woman who is not a mate is acceptable to you?” Finn’s subsequent growl shook more snow from the trees that surrounded the clearing.
“She is unharmed. She is merely sleeping until I awaken her.”
Finn circled the man in slow strides, making him turn in a circle in order to keep his eyes on the Alpha.
“Interesting. How is it you seem knowledgeable in the area of mountain lion shifters, when I find I am unable to detect what form of being you are?”
“My kind shares in your desire to remain hidden from the human population.”
“Indeed. But that doesn’t answer either of my previous questions. Have you sent the helicopter away?”
Caine had been so focused on the man that he’d failed to notice that the helicopter was no longer approaching.
“I sent a text when I realized I was going to be unable to extract the human from the protection of your pride. At least not without there being bloodshed.” He nodded in Jordanna’s direction and Caine saw red. He took a step closer to the creature who held so little regard for his mate.
Finn fixed him in place with a flash of his amber eyes. Caine froze in place at the edge of the clearing. He ached to go to Jordanna. His heart was pounding so hard he thought it might burst, but he was unable to disobey his Alpha. Finn had placed as few of the pride as possible in harm’s way. He was a good Alpha, but Caine didn’t care about his own life; he only cared about Jordanna’s.
“I meant no disrespect, Alpha. I am simply unaware of the human’s name.”
“Yet you found her.”
“My kind are very good at finding things.” The man smirked, and they all snarled at the disrespect shown to their Alpha.
“That brings us to the crux of the matter. Why did you need to find this mate, and what ‘kind’ are you exactly?” Finn’s steely calm made him appear even more deadly.
“My name is Aiden St. John, I was asked to find this woman by the brother of a wolf shifter to whom I owed a life debt.”
Caine was able to move again. Finn had lifted his command. It allowed him to submit to his craving to be close to Jordanna. Caine was followed to Jordanna’s side by Drake and Rowan.
Caine licked her face, but she remained still. She felt cold under his tongue. “What has he done to her? She’s at risk from hypothermia dressed in these thin clothes.” The growls erupted around him like a chorus as Rowan and Drake joined him in expressing their anger.
Axel, Samson, Michael, Dane, and Calder stalked from the tree line to surround the intruder. No matter what sort of being he was, the eleven of them would still tear him apart if it became necessary.
“Would that be the same wolf that attacked her?” The air frosted with Finn’s breath. The cold air was being further cooled somehow. This creature is full of surprises. Caine hoped they could move Jordanna to safety before a fight ensued.
Caine scented blood and looked at their Alpha. His unsheathed claws now dripped blood onto the light smattering of snow in the clearing.
“No, the brother of the wolf that was killed the night this female was attacked.”
The cold air was still and quiet as Finn assessed the creature called Aiden St. John. Caine could detect no scent of deceit from the creature, but he barely carried any scent at all.
“She has suffered greatly from her attack. Did you not think your actions would further traumatize her?”
“The wolf that was murdere
d was the Alpha of his pack, and my friend.” Caine finally detected a scent from the creature. Sorrow.
“His brother sought my help in retrieving the sole witness to his murder. I agreed because I have a personal interest in seeing said murderer is punished for his crimes.”
“We have only your word on this. Your seeming reluctance to disclose exactly what sort of being you are hardly engenders trust on our part.”
“Like shifters, my kind has been talked about for millennia. Most of the facts about us have been fictionalized by literature and film to such a degree that it makes it easy for us to hide in plain sight. I am a vampire.” The man drew back his lips to reveal long white fangs where his canine teeth should have been.
Chapter 13
Drake had held Jordanna in his arms on the drive to Doc’s clinic. His higher-than-normal body heat had quickly warmed her and she was now safe in Gabriel’s arms in an examination room with Caine and Rowan standing guard.
He was barely containing his rage as he watched Samson begin his interrogation of the creature who had taken her. While he was glad she was returned to them, he remained enraged that the vampire had somehow rendered her unconscious and they’d been unable to rouse her.
A vampire. Fucking hell. Were aliens, fairies, goblins, and the damned Easter bunny out there as well?
Aiden glanced his way, a small curl to his upper lip.
Finn and Hunter joined them in Doc’s small office and the air grew thick with the scent of anger from all the shifters present.
Calder and his brothers were still in an examination room with Doc. Jason had assured them that Peata and their unborn child were in good health, which was the only thing that had kept Calder from instantly killing the vampire called Aiden St. John.
Aiden was seated behind Doc’s desk, Samson having offered him that seat as it was furthest from the door. He would need to get through a wall of shifter males if he decided to flee.
The vampire looked relaxed, but Drake could still scent sorrow coming from him. He knew his eyes were blazing amber, the heat searing into him with his cat’s fury.
“What have you done to my mate?” Drake said. He could no longer contain his anger and distress. They had been civilized long enough. The vampires reassurance that she was unharmed meant nothing if she remained unconscious.
“One of the gifts of vampirism is the ability to control the minds of humans,” Aiden said, meeting Drake’s fiery gaze with a cold stare. “It allows us the freedom we need to feed and then wipe their minds of the encounter. Thus ensuring our anonymity.”
“What? I ask again. Have you done to my mate?” Drake felt his canines descend and he was about to give his cat free rein to attack the vampire if he chose again to not answer him.
“I apologize, young one. I am attempting to answer.”
He looked sincere, not condescending, so Drake chose not to take offence at his being called “young.” Drake may be eighty years old, but age was a relative thing. He had no sense of what age the vampire himself may be.
“I thought to minimize any distress to the human”—he paused when Drake’s growl slipped out of him—“your mate, as I now know her to be. By placing her mind in a state of sleep until we arrived back in Wyoming.”
“Why hasn’t she woken?” Samson said. He glared at Drake, and he knew Samson wanted Drake to leave the interrogation to him.
“She will remain in that state until I release her mind from my command.” He looked at Drake before he finished his answer. “If I am killed, she will remain asleep for the remainder of her life.”
Drake growled at him again, but was silenced by a flash of his Alpha’s amber glare. “We are a peaceful race by nature,” Finn said, returning his gaze to the vampire. “But we are fiercely protective of all members of our pride. Especially our mates.”
“I will release the mate immediately. I will, however, need to touch her to do this.”
Finn fixed him in place with another glare, just as he was about to leap on the creature. The snarl caught in his throat and it felt as though he’d choke on it.
“As you can see, that is going to be difficult for her mates,” Samson said, moving to stand between Drake and the vampire.
Samson may be huge, but Drake would still try to get through him if the vampire threatened his mate again.
“I thought the wolves protective of their mates,” Aiden said, his tone even and calm. “But your species is truly ferocious in their possessiveness. It rivals that of my own race.”
“We are fewer in numbers than the wolves,” Finn said, speaking for the first time since they’d entered Doc’s office. He was leaning against the door, but he looked anything but relaxed. “It makes finding our mates that much more difficult. If we are lucky enough to find her, she is more important to us than our own lives.”
“My people have more in common with the cats, it seems, than the wolves.” Aiden looked at Finn, who nodded.
“Yes, I have heard that the wolves can take another mate if one dies.” Finn’s lip curled slightly as he said this. Drake felt appalled by this revelation.
What? He looked at Samson and Hunter and saw surprise on their faces, too. Drake’s cat shuddered in disgust at the thought of touching anyone but Jordanna. He had never known this about the wolves.
“We also join our mates in death, young Alpha. Have you found your mate?” Drake watched for any sign of emotion on Finn’s face, but none was betrayed. “I wouldn’t tell you either, had I been lucky enough to have found her.”
Drake finally saw an emotion on the vampires face. It was longing. He wondered again at the age of the creature. He’d waited eighty years for Jordanna. How long had Aiden St. John been searching for his mate?
“Difficult or not. I must touch your mate, Drake.” Aiden looked at Samson, not Drake as he said this.
“I have a few more questions for you,” Samson said, “before I allow you access to one of our mates.” Aiden opened his hands and gestured for Samson to continue.
“Please tell us your objective in taking Jordanna to Wyoming?” Samson had cut neatly to the heart of the matter. Drake wanted this over with. He needed Jordanna both safe and conscious.
“If the young cat would grant me a little more of his patience I will tell you the tale in its entirety,” Aiden said calmly.
Finn fixed Drake with a stare that was no longer a command; it was a question. His Alpha was fully aware of Drake’s torment and allowed the decision on to how to proceed to be his. Drake nodded in agreement. They needed to know everything before he could be allowed near Jordanna again.
At Finn’s nod, the vampire began. “My friend, Liam West, was the Alpha of his pack of wolf shifters. They live in the area around Sheridan, Wyoming. He had been their Alpha for nearly two centuries. I met him a quarter of a millennia ago when he found me near death in the forest on his land. He fed me and saved my life that day.”
“Thus the life debt you mentioned,” Samson said.
“The debt was at the beginning of our acquaintance, he had since become my friend. I was informed two days ago by Liam’s brother, Richard, that Liam had been murdered. He asked for my help in revealing the murderer’s identity by locating the sole witness to the attack. Said witness had apparently disappeared. The scent trail at the hospital clearly marked mountain lion shifters as being involved.”
“Gabriel discovered her to be his mate, and naturally, brought her to pride territory to protect her,” Samson said. Drake noted that he’d revealed nothing the vampire hadn’t already discovered. “Why did this brother not approach our Alpha for assistance? Surely that would have been the logical thing to do.”
“As the witness was taken by your pride, he felt you may have had some involvement in his brother’s death.” Finn’s answering growl shook a few books from the shelves beside Doc’s desk.
Aiden shrugged. “I am not accusing you, Alpha. I am merely telling you why I was sent for the woman. For Jordanna.”
�
��Why you, Aiden St. John?” Samson asked, his eyes sparking with the intensity of his anger—an anger they all shared at being accused of murder. “Why were you sent for the witness?”
“Another of my gifts is that I carry no discernible scent. I was able to take the woman and leave no trail for you to follow. You would have easily detected the wolves had they come into your territory.”
“But we did track you,” Samson said. He moved to lean over the desk, taking a deep breath. “It’s faint, but it’s definitely there.” Aiden’s surprise at this showed.
“I have never before been detected by a shifter. Another surprise you cats have delivered me.” His smile was warm and genuine. “I was unaware that my captive was a mate. I would not have simply taken her, had I known. I’m sorry for the distress I’ve caused you all. You especially, Drake.”
Drake found his anger abating and found his cat relaxing. It believed the vampire. Drake had to admit that since discovering Jordanna was a mate Aiden had been fully cooperative. Drake had been unable to detect any deceit from him, he’d appeared to answer all their questions honestly.
“If you would wake Jordanna, I think Drake and her other mates would feel more inclined to accept that apology,” Finn said. Samson took the cue and moved to stand at Aiden’s side, ready to escort him from the room.
The vampire rose from the chair and shook his head. “You cats are full of surprises. More than one mate? That was indeed a surprise to me.”
* * * *
Gabriel tensed as he heard a door open and heavy footfalls approaching. Jordanna was sleeping in his arms. Caine and Rowan were seated close enough to have a hand on their lovely mate.
They were all deeply troubled by the revelations of the afternoon. No one had imagined that vampires existed. The shock just compounded when he’d calmly agreed to accompany them to town and answer all their questions. He was a complete surprise in both his existence and his actions.
“A fucking vampire,” Rowan said, rising to stand in front of Gabriel and Jordanna. “He was damn hard to scent. If Bethany hadn’t been there we would never have discerned his scent trail.”
Jordanna [Eminence Shifters 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) Page 10
