by Mina Carter
“Who’s there?” A shadow detached itself from the shadows of the buildings and Eva’s heart nearly stopped. There was a guard here as well.
Isabella dropped her hand with a snarl and leaped for the guard. He managed a strangled cry as the female hit him in the middle of the chest and he fell backward. The back of his head hit the wall with a sickening crunch, but that was nothing compared to the wet, meaty sound of fangs tearing through skin as Isabella tore his throat out. Eva looked away, her hand over her mouth. She was going to be sick.
Movement registered in the corner of her eye and she swung around. Davie stepped around the corner. “Hello, Eva.”
She froze. A chill rolled from the top of her head down her spine. She should be pleased to see her brother, but every instinct she had screamed at her to run. A memory of Davie saying the exact same flickered across her mind, but it hadn’t been here. They’d been inside somewhere… Then it was gone and she refocused on Davie.
But not Davie. There was something odd about him. Something off. He was as dirty as she’d expect after being a prisoner of the vampires, then held by the lycans, but it was like the dirt was a layer above his skin, which seemed too smooth, too clean somehow.
He turned to Isabella, who rose to her feet. “You took your time.”
She shrugged, wiping the blood from her mouth.
“Not my fault she was slow on the uptake. Took some convincing.”
Davie sighed. “She never was the sharpest tool in the box.”
Eva looked from one to the other, realizing the situation wasn’t exactly as Isabella had painted it. The sense of wrongness hit so hard it almost stole her breath. What wasn’t she seeing here? What didn’t she know?
“What’s going on? How did you get out Davie?”
The scared act had disappeared and the female lycan shot her a look of hatred and irritation. She turned back to Davie. “Get it over with, then our deal is done.”
Shit. Her instincts howled at her and Eva began to back away. This was wrong, very, very wrong. “Do what?”
Before she’d finished her sentence, Davie moved and was behind her. Thin arms with the strength of steel cable caught her in a tight embrace.
“Kill you, sister dearest. And perhaps this time, you’ll fucking stay dead.”
***
Alex jerked awake, going from deep sleep to total consciousness in a heartbeat, his wolf on alert. Something woke him. Everything was dark and silent. Turning his head, he scanned the room. This late at night, it was in almost perfect darkness, but that made no difference. He could see perfectly well. Lycans were nocturnal predators. They might walk and talk human, but they were nothing of the sort.
The same bedroom he’d brought Eva into earlier met his eyes. The feminine décor, the frills on every available surface and more cushions than one person could possibly use in a lifetime the same as always. Nothing was out of place, but the sense of wrongness remained. His wolf paced and snarled within him. Alex frowned. He’d never felt the creature so agitated, but why?
Eva wasn’t in bed next to him. He reached a hand across the sheets. The spot next to him was cool, her scent fading slightly. She’d been out of bed a while.
Taking a breath, he calmed himself. He’d spent so long wanting her, and they’d been through so much shit, that now he finally had her, a certain amount of anxiety about losing her again was natural.
“Eva?” he called out, expecting an answer from the bathroom.
There was no light on, but she never turned the light on at night even if it meant she tripped over anything and everything on her way to the bathroom. Something about not wanting to burn the sleep out of her brain with the light. It was one of the adorable yet frustrating things he loved about her.
She had to be in the bathroom. Any moment now she’d answer him, then emerge to walk across the room with that sexy little hip wiggle of hers. Slide into bed with him…
His wolf snarled and snapped his attention back to reality. Although he knew Eva wasn’t in the bathroom, he still called out again.
“Eva. Are you in there?”
A small breeze fluttered the curtain at the window as if to answer him. The current brought a wolf’s scent. One he knew. Strong. Close. Female.
His lip curled back in a low snarl.
Isabella.
Launching himself out of bed, he was across the room in a heartbeat to check the en suite. He skidded the last few feet, his shoulder slamming into the wooden doorframe.
The en suite was empty.
“Shit.”
He knew Isabella had an issue with him turning Eva, but she wouldn’t actually do anything, surely? A laugh broke unbidden from his lips.
Hell yes, she would. Isabella was an alpha, just, and she had ideas above her station. She wanted to be the pack alpha female. She’d do anything to achieve that goal. Up to and including removing a rival for his attention. Never mind the fact he had absolutely no interest in the woman and had made that clear on the several attempts she’d made to get into his bed.
The house rushed by in a blur. He hit the kitchen and his bare feet gave way to claws that clacked over the tiles. The back door crashed open and he burst out of the house onto the lawn, massive paws digging into the soft turf. Fully shifted, he paused for a moment to breathe deeply. Two females had been here, then headed for the forest. Throwing his head back, he gave voice to his fury.
The howl ripped through the night air. Deepened and swelled. It was both a declaration that the pack alpha was pissed, and a summons, a command to all wolves within hearing to attend him.
The night filled with answering howls, and as he watched, wolves emerged and raced across the grass toward him from all directions.
Approval and deep visceral pride filled him. This was his pack—his family—and they were his to command. His wolf took over and he ran. Followed the scent of his mate and the lycan who had taken her. Forget the ride of the valkyrie, this was the run of the wolf; death written in fur carried on four paws times a hundred.
God help Isabella if she’d hurt Eva, because they sure wouldn’t. If she’d touched a hair on his mate’s head, her time in this pack was done.
She was a dead wolf walking. He’d make sure of that.
Personally.
Chapter Seven
Eva’s head swam as the clues started to make terrible sense. She looked at Isabella.
“You lied to me. About Alex.”
Isabella laughed, shaking her head. “God, you’re slow. Of course, I lied. How else was I going to get you out here away from him?”
Nausea rose, bile and acid sharp in the back of Eva’s throat. Her body was full of aches, like she was running a fever. Just perfect. Normal people got an adrenaline rush and could lift cars off people. What did she get? The frigging flu. Figured.
“But why?” She couldn’t help the question. What had she ever done to Isabella?
The lycan woman stalked forward, amber eyes fixed on Eva. Her wolf was so close to the surface, fur played peekaboo through the pores of her skin.
“Sorry, honey, it’s nothing personal. Really. There’s only room for one top bitch in this pack and let’s just say, that isn’t going to be you.”
“Alex will kill you for this!” Eva struggled against Davie’s hold, trying to get free, but he held her firm.
A wall. White tiles. A thick spray of crimson.
What the fuck was that? She shook her head to clear the sudden vision.
“Really?” Isabella arched her eyebrow. “I highly doubt that when he thinks you’ve gone against him and let your brother out.”
She sighed sadly as she looked down at the body of the lycan. Her face was smeared in blood. The blood of a wolf from her own pack. A wolf she’d killed in cold blood. Eva shivered. Lycans were often called monsters by the human media, but Eva never believed of any of them. Until now.
“Of course, then poor Alfie here discovered you and you ripped his throat out for his troubles. I found
the body…” She sobbed. “He was my first lover and now he’s dead.”
Blood dripped down the tiles, to the edge of the bathtub. An arm, pale and lifeless.
“My god,” Eva gasped. “You really are a monster. Alex will never believe a cock and bull story like that!”
“He’ll believe whatever he’s told. Who will be there to argue with me?” Isabella shrugged. “Through the ages, history has been written by the victor. And in this particular battle, I will be the victor.”
She looked Eva up and down. Sneered.
“How could you think this could possibly go any other way? A pathetic creature like you? No wolf. Hell, even as a human how can you compare to me?” She smoothed her hands down her neat figure, then looked at Davie. “Make sure you get her off the estate before you do it. Then dump the body where it won’t be found.”
A face above hers. Mouth wide, fangs covered in blood…
Eva gasped and drew back, trying to look over her shoulder at Davie.
“You. You killed me. That’s why Alex had to turn me—”
She’d thought it was a car accident. Her world tilted. Alex had lied to her, just not in the way she’d thought. He’d lied to protect her from the truth that her own brother, her baby brother, had left her for dead.
“Why? I’m your sister…”
Davie laughed and there was nothing human left in the sound. Instead, it was harsh and brittle. The amusement of a creature that didn’t value any form of life. A dead creature.
“Correction. You were the sister of the weak, inferior creature I was. I have no sister. Fuck it, I’m doing it now. I’m fed up with her damn whining.”
Eva sucked in a breath as he bent his head, waiting for the sharp slice of teeth as he ripped her throat out.
The pain didn’t arrive. Before Davie could get his fangs into her, there was a snarl, then something heavy hit them like a freight train. A scream ripped from her throat as they sprawled across the hard dirt of the forest floor.
She rolled head over heels, sky and ground whirling around each other. Her tumble was cut short and pain exploded on the side of her head. Blinking, she tried to clear her vision of stars and pushed herself shakily up. A rock explained her abrupt stop, blood splattered across it. She lifted a hand to her head, and her fingers came away wet with blood. Her blood then.
A snarl behind her got her attention. Davie stood in the middle of a circle of silent wolves. A big brown/gray wolf with a white stripe from the tip of his nose to his brow stepped forward.
Her hand covered her mouth, tears hot in her eyes. Alex. Her heart leaped. He’d come for her.
Davie snarled and ran backward, away from Alex toward the buildings. She knew vampires were fast, but she’d never expected them to be that fast. Frustration filled her as she realized he was about to escape. If he got onto the roof, he could easily attain the treetops and would be gone.
After three steps, he launched himself at the wall, but instead of jumping to the roof of the building, he sprang back from it and landed on Alex’s back. She screamed as he attacked. He was no longer recognizable as human. Instead, he was a caricature. Jaws opened wider than any living creature could manage and his fangs jutting forward like a shark, he struck on the side of Alex’s neck, trying to get purchase through the thick fur.
The big wolf howled and shifted. The sharp crack of bone echoed through the air as he spun, changing form on the fly to throw Davie over a newly formed hip. Alex slammed the vampire into the ground hard enough to make him bounce. Before he could muster a response, Alex had him pinned, a huge hand around his throat.
Davie’s eyes bulged, almost popping out of his skull. He scrabbled at Alex’s arms with sharp fingernails. No, they weren’t nails…they were the sharpened ends of his finger bones, elongated until they burst from the ends of his fingers. The insidious smells of rot and decay oozed through the air as his glamor faded. The elegant façade disappeared to reveal the rotting corpse beneath.
Gagging, she turned to the side and lost everything she’d eaten.
Snarling, Alex lifted Davie over his head and threw him against the wall. He hit with a sickening thud. She held her breath as he hit the ground. Was he dead? She shook her head at her own thought. Idiot. He was already dead. So… was he more dead, for good now?
A rattling sound filled the air, emanating from the crumpled figure of the vampire and he lifted his head. He was laughing.
“You really think you can kill me that easily?”
Davie rose to his feet unsteadily. His head was tilted at an odd angle, but his eyes were filled with malevolence as he glared at Alex. His face twisted into a snarl and he launched himself at the big wolf.
She screamed, fear and worry holding her prisoner. How could he fight something that was already dead?
Alex was back in his half form. Casually he reached out and batted the attacking vampire to the ground. It was easy to see he was done playing and the fight was to the death. Before Davie could get back up, Alex dropped onto his back. His claws glimmered in what little light there was and he raked them down Davies back, opening his spine to the bone. The stench of decay bloomed twofold on the air.
Davie screamed in agony. Lifting his head, he reached out to her.
“Eva, please…”
The hand… her hand… slid down the blood splattered tub. Davie’s face got farther away as he stood and turned. Leaving her to die…
She met his pleading gaze levelly. “Rest in peace, little brother.”
Looking up, she met Alex’s solid amber gaze and nodded. “Make it quick.”
The werewolf reached down and took hold of either side of Davie’s head in massive paws. With a sharp twist, he snapped the vampire’s neck, but that didn’t stop the screaming. The only way to keep a vampire down was decapitation.
She looked away as he continued to twist. The dry, breaking sound reminded her of a bunch of twigs being broken. Twigs worked. She didn’t want to think about what it actually was.
“Get that out of here. Bury them separately.” Alex’s deep voice was a welcome sound. “Eva, sweetheart, are you okay?”
With a cry, she bolted across the clearing and threw herself into his arms.
He folded her in his embrace, strong arms around her. Relief flooded her, the feeling so complete that she sagged against him. She never thought she’d be here again, hold him again. Reaction set in, and tremors raced all through her body. She couldn’t stop them.
“Oh god, Eva. I thought I’d lost you.”
Alex’s lips were in her hair, kissing her, his words muttered against the top of her head. His big hands drove into her hair and pulled her head back gently so he could look into her eyes. His were dark with worry. “Don’t you ever do that to me again. I love you. I can’t lose you.”
The words blindsided her. She gaped like a goldfish as he crushed her against him, the same tremors she couldn’t get rid of rolling through his bigger body.
He what… he loved her? Hope raised a tentative head, then burst through like a supernova. No. She had to have heard him wrong.
She pushed at his shoulders to make him look at her. “You… what did you say?”
He met her gaze levelly. “Eva, I love you. Always have, always will.”
Oh. My. God.
She squeaked and wrapped her arms around his neck. Tightly. Probably tight enough that he couldn’t breathe, but he didn’t complain. Instead, he pulled her against him.
“I love you too, Alex,” she whispered, kissing his neck between the words.
Thank god, it was all ove—
“Well, isn’t this sickeningly cute.” Isabella’s caustic tone broke through their happy little reconciliation.
Blinking in surprise, Eva turned in Alex’s arms. She’d expected the woman to have made her escape during Alex and Davie’s fight, not hang around after what she’d done. But no, the lycan female stood behind them, hands on her hips.
“Alex, she was working with Davie. Wan
ted me out of the way so she could be alpha female of the pack,” she said quickly, before Isabella could say anything else.
Alex’s face darkened with anger.
“Is this true?” he demanded of the other woman.
Isabella’s expression was hard.
“Was I working with the vampire? Yes, but only to remove a threat to the stability of the pack. As our alpha has always taught us, pack comes first. Always. She…” she hissed, glaring at Eva, “is weak.”
Alex’s arm tightened around Eva’s waist. So tight she nearly squeaked, but kept silent, not wanting to make a wrong move in what could turn out to be a volatile situation.
“She is… will be my mate,” he growled. “And will be your alpha female.”
Isabella smiled, baring her teeth. “Over my dead body. I call challenge.”
“Challenge? What is that?” From the silence that rippled around the assembled wolves, Eva knew it was a serious thing. “Can she do that? Alex?”
His jaw was set, a small muscle jumping in the corner, and his large body was suddenly tight lethal power ready to burst free. He shoved Eva behind him with an abrupt movement that made her stumble and clutch at his shoulders for balance.
“I accept the challenge on behalf of my mate.”
Isabella chuckled, shaking her head. “No can do, handsome. You’re not mated. She’s not wearing your mark.”
“That can easily be remedied,” Alex snarled, dragging Eva out in front of him so quickly her head spun. Hand on her neck, he tilted her head to the side. His hot breath fanned over her throat. She had to bite her lip, and fight the wave of heat that wanted to roll through her body. Now was so not the time or place.
“That’s not how it works, Alpha, and you know it.” Isabella wagged her finger and clucked her tongue chidingly.
