Gryke: A SciFi Alien Romance (Enigma Series Book 6)

by Ditter Kellen

  Vlad came to a stop next to the hideous beast and allowed his gaze to travel from its injured leg to the gunshot wound in its side before coming to rest on the creature’s face.

  Dropping down onto his haunches, Vlad pushed back the hood of his cloak and stared into the wolf’s amber-colored eyes. “I bet that hurts like hell.”

  A strained growl bubbled up from the animal’s throat, further amusing Vlad. “I should let you lie there and bleed out for thinking to step foot onto my land.”

  No fear entered the wolf’s strange-looking eyes. Only acceptance…and rage?

  “This is your lucky day, dog. I’ve had my dinner, and I’m feeling mildly generous.”

  Vlad reached down and grabbed onto the wolf’s neck in time to watch a pair of feminine legs begin to emerge from beneath its silky white coat.

  He relaxed his hold as his gaze slowly traveled up over the curve of a hip, a small ribcage, and a pair of incredible breasts before coming to land on a face he would never forget. “You…”

  Chapter Two

  Nita Franks had never felt as much pain as she did in that moment. Every place on her body hurt. Including her hair.

  She stared up at Vlad the Impaler with as much hatred as she could muster in her current condition.

  He laughed.

  More rage poured through her at the sound of his soft chuckle.

  If she managed to live through her injuries, Nita vowed to take his head back to her pack, wrapped in his own idiotic nineteenth-century cloak.

  She opened her mouth to tell him as much, but the words wouldn’t come.

  “I am aware of your dislike of my person, dog. Suffice it to say, the feeling is mutual. But I am your only hope of survival. Now, if you will kindly stop your display of bravado and hold still, I will remove this trap from your leg.”

  “Why?” she managed to wheeze, not trusting him for a second.

  He paused, his hand resting on the trap. “You not only saved Angelo’s life, but Shon’s mate as well. A debt is owed you, and I intend to see that it’s repaid. That is, if you survive.”

  Fire shot up Nita’s leg as Vlad suddenly released it from the jaws of the trap.

  She couldn’t breathe—whether from the overwhelming pain in her lower extremities or the gunshot wound in her shoulder, she didn’t know. She wasn’t sure of anything beyond the white-hot agony seizing her insides.

  Nita’s eyes began to close against her will. The last ounce of strength she had slipped away on a groan as strong arms came around her and lifted her from the damp earth.

  “You’ve lost a lot of blood,” Vlad pointed out in a matter-of-fact voice.

  Nita attempted to open her eyes, but her lids wouldn’t seem to cooperate. She was going to die in the arms of the most hated vampire on the planet. Naked at that.

  Humiliation washed through her on the heels of that thought. She only prayed that he wouldn’t defile her or remove her head and put it on display for her pack to see.

  Nita had been born the daughter of Ronan Franks, leader of the Kiana pack. After his death a few years back, Nita was forced to fight for her place as alpha of the pack. She was strong, intelligent, and resourceful, but lacked the necessary equipment that some felt she needed to take on the role.

  No, Nita didn’t possess a penis, but she had something even better. A brain. And that brain had kept her pack safe for the last eight years. Until now.

  Images of Vlad’s pale blue eyes played behind Nita’s closed lids as he carried her through the woods as if she were an invalid infant.

  It roasted Nita’s ass to rely on the bloodsucker for anything. Let alone her life.

  The sound of a door opening interrupted Nita’s trip down self-loathing lane.

  Smells and sounds came to life, filtering through her senses one by one, stopping on one in particular. A human?

  “Mordecai?” Vlad called out, continuing his journey forward.

  Distant footsteps rang in Nita’s ears, moving ever closer. “Master?”

  “I need towels, any medical supplies we have, and one of my T-shirts. Bring them to my room.”

  “Your room, sir?”

  Nita could feel more than hear Vlad’s sigh. “Please, Mordecai. We are taxed for time.”

  The sound of Mordecai’s footsteps echoed off the walls as he ran to do his master’s bidding.

  Nita could see the glare of overhead lights dancing through the cracks of her eyelids. She vaguely wondered where Vlad was taking her, but realized it didn’t matter at that point. Being naked in his arms and on the verge of death took precedence over what room he placed her in.

  The feel of cool sheets touched her back as she was laid out on a soft mattress.

  Vlad’s hands were suddenly on her body, touching her everywhere, kneading and coasting up her limbs and sides.

  “You are not healing as you should be,” he rasped, stopping to probe at the hole in her shoulder.

  Nita bit back a cry of torment, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of hearing her scream. Sweat popped out on her forehead, and tremors racked her agonized frame. Still, she said nothing.

  “This is all that I could find, my lord.”

  Vlad’s hands left her body, giving her a brief respite from the insistent throbbing. “That will do, Mordecai. I thank you.”

  “May I be of assistance?” the obviously elderly man questioned in an anxious voice.

  “There is nothing more you can do, Mordecai. Go back to bed. I will see to her injuries.”

  “Very well.” Retreating footsteps and a door closing told Nita that Mordecai had left the room.

  The mattress dipped next to her hip. Vlad leaned over her and lifted one of her eyelids. “I am going to have to dig the bullet out of your shoulder and reset your leg. It’s going to hurt worse than anything you have felt before. My blood will—”

  “No!” Nita managed to croak, straining to open her eyes. “No…blood.”

  “As you wish.”

  The sounds of paper ripping could be heard over the thundering of Nita’s heart. Alcohol suddenly permeated the air seconds before Vlad poured the icy-cold liquid into her wound.

  Nita found her voice.

  A hoarse scream ripped from her throat, ricocheting off the walls and resounding in her ears. Unimaginable pain tore through her, taking her to the brink of hell before she slipped into blessed darkness.

  Chapter Three

  Vlad felt the moment that the shifter lost consciousness. He took the opportunity to reach into her wound and remove the bullet.

  More blood trickled from the injury to spill down her side and onto the bed.

  He stitched the jagged hole with vampiric speed and moved on to the break in her leg.

  Noticing the break had already begun the healing process, Vlad gripped her ankle in one hand and her knee with the other before rebreaking the bone and setting it straight.

  A deep moan vibrated inside her chest, but she didn’t move.

  He splinted the leg as best he could and sat back to access her vitals. Her heartbeat had slowed to the point of nearly stopping.

  Vlad laid two fingers against the pulse point of her throat, feeling her life steadily slipping away.

  She needed blood. Now.

  Nita Franks had made it perfectly clear that she did not want his offer of blood. But she would die without it, and the debt owed to her by the vampires would go unpaid.

  Vlad took the decision from her.

  Biting into his wrist, he laid his now bleeding wound against her lips and coaxed her to swallow by massaging her throat.

  A soft sound escaped her, but she didn’t fight.

  Minutes ticked by with Vlad hovering above her, feeding her his life force and listening to her heartbeat grow in strength. She would probably try to kill him when she awoke, but he’d deal with that when the time came.

  Once he felt she’d had enough, Vlad removed his wrist from her lips and licked his wound closed.

  Nita took a s
huddering breath, burrowing deeper into the pillows and drawing Vlad’s attention to her nudity.

  His cock stirred to life for the first time in two hundred years.

  Vlad jumped from the bed in shock and more than a little disgust. How was it that a wolf, a damn shifter, could stir in him sensations that no other had in centuries?

  He fled the room, not slowing until he reached the wintry air of the Alaskan night.

  Taking deep breaths to clear her scent from his lungs, Vlad pulled his cell phone from the inside pocket of his cloak. He scrolled down to Angel’s number and pressed the send key.

  “Is everything okay?” Angel asked after answering on the first ring.

  Vlad closed his eyes and turned his face up toward the night sky. “Have you arrived in Anchorage yet?”

  “We got here last night,” Angel assured him. “Ember wanted to do some sightseeing since it’s her first trip to Alaska. Is something wrong?”

  “Our debt to the shifter, Nita Franks, has been paid,” Vlad stated in a calm tone.

  Angel grew quiet for a moment. “What happened?”

  “I found her on my property, caught in a bear trap with a bullet wound to the shoulder.” Vlad went on to explain everything that had happened since finding the injured shifter, ending with, “She is not going to be happy about the blood given to her.”

  “She would have died without it,” Angel murmured, a sigh in his voice. “Did she say what she was doing at your place to begin with?”

  Vlad’s eyes slowly opened. “I have yet to ask her. She is their alpha, Angelo. She knows better than any of them not to cross into my territory.”

  “I’m sure she had a reason for being there, Sire.”

  “You are quick to defend her actions without knowing her intentions.”

  “She came when I called, protected my family while I slept, and saved Laura’s life before killing the Seeker,” Angel pointed out. “I realize she was repaying a debt to me, but I feel that I owe her.”

  “Your debt has now been paid in full, Angelo. I will obtain my answers as to her trespassing, when she awakens.”

  Angel grew silent once again before clearing his throat. “I would like to be present when you question her.”

  “You do not trust me,” Vlad stated quietly, amusement rising to the surface.

  “No, Sire. It’s not you that I don’t trust. It’s her.”

  Vlad let that sink in. “You worry that she will bring her pack to my door. I hold no fear for the shifters, son of my son.”

  “Just let me talk to her,” Angel persisted. “There’s no sense in inviting a war that need not be.”

  “Very well, Angelo. But I suggest that you hurry. I have no idea how long she will sleep before she springs up ready to fight.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  Vlad ended the call and returned his cell to the pocket inside his cloak before venturing back inside.

  He made his way up the stairs to his room, but couldn’t bring himself to venture through the open doorway.

  The shifter’s scent filled the large chamber, mingled with blood and rage. Even in her comatose state, she was pissed.

  Vlad’s lips twitched. The little tart had courage; he’d give her that.

  No matter how much anger and resentment her subconscious experienced while she slumbered, it was nothing compared to the outrage she would feel upon waking.

  Vlad had done the unthinkable. He’d given a shifter his blood. As far as he knew, no vampire in history had ever dared do such a thing.

  He took a step into the room, his gaze touching on her parted lips. Why had he given her his blood? he wondered, taking another step toward the bed. It didn’t matter to him if she died.

  His gaze traveled down her neck to her mocha-colored breasts rising and falling with every breath she took.

  She was a shifter, the worst form of scum to ever grace the earth. A dog that walked around on all fours, prowling the night like the mangy mutts they were. And he’d saved her life.

  Vlad hadn’t realized he’d moved until his knees touched the side of the mattress. He peered down at the sleeping shifter now healing in his bed. And his cock stirred to life once again.

  Anger slammed into him with a force that was staggering. How could his body betray him for a shifter? His natural-born enemy?

  Too intrigued to move, Vlad stared in amazement at the evidence of his now rising lust. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had an erection, yet there he stood, with a throbbing hard-on for the alpha of the damn Kiana clan.

  Chapter Four

  Voices penetrated Nita’s sleep-fogged brain, pulling her out of the nightmare she couldn’t seem to escape.

  She’d been shot and carried through the woods to Castle Dracula, by Vlad himself. His scent had seduced her, drew her in against her will.

  How could that be? There was nothing about a cold, evil bloodsucker that Nita found enticing. Nothing. So why was the juncture of her thighs wet and throbbing?

  Her eyes slowly fluttered open, revealing the reality of her so-called dream. Tall, Dark, and Repulsive stood a few feet from her, speaking softly to Angel.

  “You’re awake.” Angel greeted her, breaking away from Vlad to sit next to her on the bed. “How are you feeling?”

  Nita squinted up at him for a moment before jerking her gaze to her sheet-covered body. “Where are my clothes?”

  “You weren’t wearing any when I found you,” Vlad piped in with a raised eyebrow.

  Memory came flooding back with a vengeance. The trap, the burn of the bullet as it entered her shoulder. The blood…

  “You son of a bitch,” Nita snarled, the amber color of her eyes swirling with iridescent white. “I’ll kill you for this.”

  The humor that sparked in Vlad’s eyes, barely visible beneath his cloak, only pissed her off more. She moved to throw back the sheet, but remembered her naked state.

  “Easy,” Angel urged her, gently pushing her back against the pillow. “Ember is bringing you some clothes momentarily.” He glanced toward her shoulder. “May I?”

  Nita grudgingly nodded. “Only if he leaves the room.”

  “Well, since it is his room,” Angel stressed. “I doubt he’ll be going anywhere.”

  Turning her face away from the object of her disdain, Nita took a deep breath in anticipation of the pain that would come from removing the bandage.

  Angel removed the blood-soaked dressing with infinite care. “It’s almost completely healed.”

  “Vampire blood has its good points,” Vlad remarked, sending Nita into another round of rage.

  “Screw you and your tainted blood,” she seethed, bringing her gaze back to his. “I never asked you for your precious offering, so you can go fuck yourself.”

  A chuckle escaped Vlad, making him appear almost human.

  Nita ground her teeth in fury. “Do I amuse you, Dracula?”

  “Oddly enough, you do,” he responded, pushing back the hood of his cloak to reveal his pale, chiseled face.

  “Well, I find nothing funny about any of this. I came here to help your demon-spawned ass, and this is how I’m repaid?”

  Vlad’s pale blue eyes became hooded. “You will be as good as new momentarily and able to go back to your pack of mutts without a scratch visible.”

  “It’s not my injuries that concern me. You think they won’t scent your blood in me? I’ll be challenged immediately, or cast out at the very least.”

  Angel quickly intervened. “You said you came here to help?”

  Nita’s gaze softened as she met Angel’s moss-green one. “Yes. Since arriving back in Anchorage, I’ve had my feelers out on anything to do with the Seeker Society. I met with one of them about a week ago, and—”

  “Wait,” Angel interrupted. “You found the Seekers’ lair?”

  Nita shook her head. “Not entirely. But I did meet with one of their leaders. I figured I could set a trap and flush them out.”

  “So you came h
ere to what, use me as bait?” Vlad inquired in a deadly soft tone.

  “Not that the thought hadn’t crossed my mind,” Nita shot back. “But no. I came here to give you the guy’s name. I figured the vampires could take it from there.”

  Vlad didn’t look convinced. “Why would you help me?”

  “I didn’t do it for you. I did it for Lucius.”

  “And the man who shot you in the woods?” Vlad continued, drifting closer to the bed.

  “I’m assuming he was sent to follow me and report back.”

  Vlad came to a stop a few feet away. “He won’t be reporting back to anyone.”

  “You killed him, I take it?” Nita asked sarcastically.

  “I drained him. Would you like for me to show where I buried him? You could dig up the carcass when you leave here. Have a light snack on your way home.”

  “And you can go back to hell where you belong,” Nita snapped, returning her attention to Angel. “What are you doing in Alaska?”

  Angel shrugged a broad shoulder. “Ember wanted to see the sights.”

  Nita narrowed her eyes. She could smell a lie from a mile away. “The truth.”

  “He’s here on my behalf,” Vlad intervened. “That’s all you need to know.”

  Angel suddenly stilled, a vacant look in his eyes. “Ember is near.”

  “I’m sure she’ll be more than happy to see me,” Nita muttered, pulling the sheet up higher against her chest.

  “No more than the rest of us, I’m sure,” Vlad piped in, his arrogant tone pissing Nita off even more.

  Nita waited for Angel to leave the room before swinging her gaze back to the object of her ire. “Why do you hate my people so much?”

  Vlad barked out a laugh. “People? Is that what you’re calling yourselves now?”

  “My, aren’t we a bit hypocritical? Spawn of Satan. You should take a good, hard look in the mirror before tossing around insults. Oh, wait, you have no reflection.”

  “That’s an old wives’ tale, Miss Franks. One would think you’d be a tad more educated on tales, or tails as it were…since you sprout one quite regularly.”