by Megan Hawke
"Fresh meat?" I said, turning to look in his eyes, our noses brushing. I felt his hot breath on my lips. "All I care about is the hot, delicious blood. I've never had deer blood before."
I slanted a look at Dane and Gabe as they grimaced. I could sense their feelings of disgust. Their auras reflected their distaste.
"I guess you boys haven't mastered the fine art of grilling?" Dane said.
"Not quite," Kelly said, eyes dancing with delight as he turned away from me. "But we’re really good at killing our dinner."
"So I've heard," Dane said. He gave the five deer a curious look. "Shouldn't they have already lost their antlers by now?"
"A hunter?" Kelly said. He looked impressed.
"I grew up hunting and fishing," he said. "I hunt more dangerous prey now."
My eyes widened. That was an incredibly bold statement. Dane and Gabe were known vampire slayers. Both the living and undead knew their names. I thought they should sneak out of town and vanish, but was selfish enough to be happy with their continued presence.
"I don't know about here in Texas, but where I grew up hunting the white tail would have lost their antlers by now. And the elk comes from much colder habitat, so his rut is well past."
"Very good," Kelly said. "I'm not sure when elk lose their antlers, but it's just getting to the time when whitetail in Texas lose theirs. They're more dangerous with antlers, so we only use those."
"You put a lot of thought and effort into your Wild On celebrations. This will be my first hunt for anything other than two-legged prey," I said. I reached out and caressed the hot skin of his neck with the back of my fingers. Kelly stiffened, but didn't flinch away. He groaned so low and quietly only I could hear it. "Of course, when I hunted down Fritz he spent a fair amount of time in wolf and wolfman form. Does that count?"
Reminding them I had hunted down and killed not only an alpha male, but a pack leader, kinda killed their vicious fun. Some of them scowled at me, while others looked me over warily. Kelly moved away slowly, putting on a good show of not being afraid. Vampires were the top of the food chain, with werewolves one down. I don’t think they liked to be reminded of it.
"His pack should’ve protected him," Kelly said, turning to face me. His eyes were bright with anger. Such passion.
"They tried," I said. Two steps and I was in his face, my breasts lightly pressed against his naked chest. I'm not sure who was more aroused at that moment, but I kept my cool better. I spotted a trace of sweat on his upper lip. "I had to kill some of them, too. But it was all good." I smiled roguishly at them. "I won. They’re dead."
Their feelings of confusion and uncertainty smelled good. I was scared shitless that Henri would sic his pack on me. One on one, a vampire was more than a match for a werewolf. But wolves fought in groups, in packs. You fight one werewolf, you fight his whole pack.
"Where’s Henri?" I said. I reached out and lightly ran my fingers down his chest, across his hard six pack abs. I felt Kelly trembling with suppressed tension, not fear. He smelled of need, lust, desire, not fear. "Since he invited me, I should thank him for the invitation and the chance to hunt with a pack." I glanced at the bull elk. "My inner wolf is dying to begin."
The Trudeau wolves understood that. They all looked at the caged deer with longing and hunger, even Kelly. I’d only run about neighborhoods in the middle of the night, chasing dogs and squirrels. Not the wolfiest behavior possible, but all I had at the time.
"He'll be over at the fire," Kelly said, nodding in that direction. His hands came up to either side of me, breast high. He glanced down at my girls, licked his lips, and then clenched his fists. I was a little disappointed he didn't try to touch me. "He's. . . he's been waiting for you."
I could hear them over there. The sounds both excited and frightened me. I heard laughter and shouts, moans and groans and growls. Men and women were talking in shouts and whispers, showing dominance, submission, and interest. I could hear a dozen couples, doing what couples did.
"Let's go join the party," Gabe said, eyes bright.
Even Dane was excited. I felt their emotions like they were my own, pushed off to the side. Gabe was highly aroused. He was an old perv, though. I think he liked orgies and other types of group sex. Dane, though, was a more personal, more one-on-one type person. His excitement was tinged with worry, but he was also aroused at the prospect. I couldn't help but wonder if any of his excitement might center around Mercedes Trudeau.
Mostly, though, I was worried about Dane. I understood how vampires kept a mere mortal vital and viable during extended pleasure sessions, but what the werewolves might do worried me. Dane was a bit more fragile than the vampires and werewolves at the Wild On Run, unable to quickly heal from any injury.
"Lead the way, boys," I said, shaking my head. I was the vampire and the most apprehensive of the three of us. Go figure. Too often I found myself drawn to such sexual encounters like a moth to a flame. "The party's already started."
I dragged my long nails across Kelly's chest, right across the tender nipples. He groaned wantonly, eyes closed and head rolling back. For a second I became overwhelmed with hunger, wanting him so badly. But Dane and Gabe were heading into the unknown. I couldn't abandon them for the pleasures Kelly promised.
"Are you all right?" Dane asked when we were about twenty feet from them. I knew they could still hear every word we were saying. "I thought you were going to rip off your clothes back there."
Ah, jealously rearing its ugly head.
"No. No chance of that, but I wanted to jump his bones," I said. Dane didn't like my new vampiric nature and open-minded attitudes about sex and promiscuity, but he understood. He kinda sorta accepted it, too. He still had those jealous moments. "The night's much too early for that."
I'd be surprised if Kelly didn't sniff me out before the night was out, so we could finish what we started. Werewolves had reputations for their tenacity, and I thought Kelly was very interested. It was a long night.
Three wolves, in full furry mode, ran past. Two males chasing a female. They barely paid us any heed. I could feel all the couples half hidden between the cedars, then we topped a rise and looked down into the Trinity River bottom, and an open field. Below us, on the other side of that field began the hardwoods. But it wasn't the promise of that thick press of gnarly trees that held the three of us spellbound. It was the press of humanity circling the bonfire.
"Wow," Gabe said.
"Like a scene from Dante's Inferno," Dane said.
"Yeah? Which scene is that? The dance of the degenerates?" I said. I read that story, once long ago, and didn't recalling anything like that. "Well, looks like they started without us."
"Let's jump in," Gabe said.
"Caution was never one of your character traits," Dane said.
I understood Dane's apprehension. There were a good thirty werewolves, mostly male, circling the fire. Really, they were dancing. Hardly any clothes on, and some were completely naked. With them were another twenty or so vampires, about half female. They had even less clothing. Then there were another twenty human females, also with few clothes on.
There were couples on the ground all around, well into whatever mating rituals werewolves indulged in. Most of the women were either humans or vampires. Very few female werewolves were in evidence.
"Vampires, werewolves, and witches," Dane said. "Oh my."
I couldn't help but laugh. I'd forgotten about witches. In some ways witches were scarier than werewolves. I understood werewolves better. I doubted any witches in attendance would be white witches.
Gabe led the way toward the bonfire. We had to wend our way through writhing couples. I was surprised to find most of the couples were vampire males with mortal women. Did they bring their thralls? Of course, I couldn't tell the difference between a witch or mortal aura. Though, I knew other vampires could tell the difference perfectly fine.
Witch auras looked like other mortals, but they tended to radiate out more. But som
e really strong normal mortals had strong auras, too. Dane, for instant, had a huge aura. Vampire big, but purely mortal. Vampires had the largest auras of all, but very dark and gray. Vampire auras were so dark it was easy to overlook them.
Since alpha werewolves had larger auras than the average werewolf, they were easy enough to pick out. In fact, I thought it was Dane’s big aura that attracted the werewolves to him. Boney didn’t think werewolves could see auras, but I thought they could. Or at least the alphas could. Otherwise how would they know someone might be an alpha if bitten? I guess it could be some supernatural sense they have, but aren’t inclined to share with the world.
"You be very careful around the wolves, Dane," I said, wagging my brows at him. "I don’t want you bitten, and then going all furry on me on Wednesday."
Once bitten, a person didn’t become a werewolf until the next full moon. That was just two days away. Most werewolf bites happened within a week of the full moon. Part of it was the effects of the moon on their psyche and part was an eagerness to "enrich" the pack.
"Too late for me," Gabe said, and pulled his shirt open.
"God help us," I said, grinning wickedly at him. He returned the grin. I turned to Dane, "But I don’t want you sprouting a snout and tail, and chasing rabbits through the woods on all fours. I want you to remain fully mortal."
It was really a jab at Gabe, and at the wolves all around us listening in. Really, I don't know why I keep taking jabs at werewolves. They just pushed my buttons.
"Sorry to disappoint, Sable, but dhampirs don't go furry," Dane said, waggling his brows at me. His lusty leer left me breathless and with a tight throat. A supernatural Dane was kinda scary and exciting. "But if one of these vamps bites me, I'll Change into an uber vampire."
And the vampires knew it. He would be uncontrollable even by his sire, so that's why there was very little chance he'd ever be Changed. There was some debate on whether I was an uber vamp, since I broke free of my sire's control quite easily.
"Not worth it," I said. "Believe me."
"It's not?" Gabe said, leering, too. "Image the stamina he'd have in bed if he was a vampire."
"Well, it has it benefits," I said, and laughed.
I felt Dane losing interest in our banter.
"It changes you, makes you a different person." He glanced at me with sad eyes. That kinda killed our fun. "It's not worth it."
"But werewolves cannot be Changed into vampires," Gabe said. He was taunting us. I could tell, but I don't think Dane understood that. "I'm on more of a par with the vamps, and don't have to worry about blood and bites."
"You have to worry about moon phases, and how they'd affect you. Also, pack politics, your place in the pecking order," Dane said. "Wolves are constantly defending their spot in the pack hierarchy. Every time someone joins the pack, the fights and posturing would start all over again." He shook his head dolefully. "It never ends. The ones that thrive in that kind of world do the best."
"Yeah, but if you can't shift into a wolf, then you can't go on the run," Gabe said. He looked at me and nodded. "I think you should hunt with me, Sabe. Together, we'll take that elk down and then celebrate our kill under the moon."
"I think you're going to be real sorry if you don't stop calling me Sabe," I said, and he grinned.
I looked at Gabe's aura. I was pretty sure he was alpha. It was quivering with his excitement.
"You don't think I can hunt with wolves?" Dane said, looking more curious than offended. I could feel his tension, though. He cared far too much about what I thought.
"Ask Gabe. I don't have a dog in this fight," I said. "I'm still trying to figure out vampires. I know nothing about werewolves." Before he could protest and demand an answer one way or the other, I stepped past them and headed toward the bonfire. "I'm joining the party before they all run off on all fours."
It wasn't much longer until midnight. The run would begin then. I wanted to speak with Henri before that. I didn't expect anything more than I got from Jeff, Vanessa, Tara, and Antoinette, but one never knew. Besides, he was mafia and they did things a little differently than the run of the mill vampires.
Dane and Gabe were hot on my heels as I moved through the fire-lit landscape. The closer I got, the wilder it looked. For many of the participants, they orgy had already begun.
"Gabe, how well do you see in the dark?" I asked. I'd barely really acknowledged his "condition" before that night. I understood he didn't care to discuss it, so I said next to nothing. But he was really my best source of what it meant to be a werewolf. "In human form, I mean."
"As well as a real wolf," he said.
"You don't have to be in wolf form to see and hear better?" Dane said.
"No."
"I didn't know that," Dane said.
"I knew they could hear better," I said. "I wasn't sure about the night vision. Thanks, Gabe."
"No problemo, babe," he said.
Looking back away from the fire, I saw half a dozen sets of eyes glowing red and green. I expected the red eyes, not the green. I wasn't sure what that meant.
Seconds later a set of redheaded twins raced across our path, giggling. They had athletic bodies glistening with sweat. They reeked of recent sex and insatiable needs. Their matching blue eyes raked my body briefly, then locked on the two men following me. Their arousal peaked as they cut Dane and Gabe off.
That kinda alarmed me, but both men were excited. I checked out the twins' auras. Perfectly human. Didn't mean they weren't witches, so I looked them over closely. Neither wore anything at all, not even jewelry. Witches never took off the crystal that channeled their magic power. So they were as safe as anyone there.
"Y'all wanna pair off with us?" they said in unison.
I didn't make it halfway down to the fire before spotting Henri and Mercedes in the dance around the bonfire. Henri only wore a pair of tight jeans, while Mercedes had stripped down to a pair of bikini panties and matching bra.
They spotted me and headed my way. I was glad Dane and Gabe had been cut off by a pair of mortal women. While Henri only had eyes for me as they approached, Mercedes had a hard time not looking at Dane. But she looked me over closely when they reached me.
"Like your shirt," Mercedes said. She walked around me, brushing against me, and running her fingers through my hair. Sometimes shifters' need to constantly touch was disconcerting. "I have it in white, black, and red."
Henri stepped in front of me, demanding all of my attention. So close. His hands came up to cup my face, but I stepped back a step. He followed, moving a bit closer. My boobs were pressed gently into his naked, muscular chest.
"Damn," I said. Though I wanted to feign indifference to Henri and Mercedes, I wasn't fooling either one of them. I licked dry lips and looked up into Henri's fierce gaze. Yeah, it was kinda hard to keep my train of thought. "I'll burn it later."
Mercedes laughed, then glanced over at Dane. She looked ready to smack her lips.
"He's not interested," I said.
She smiled knowingly. "Wanna bet?"
"Yeah," I said. Snappy comebacks are my forte.
Henri leaned forward, and breathed in the scent of my hair. He let out the tiniest groan of pleasure, igniting something deep within me. I couldn't help myself, I took a deep breath, too, pulling in his manly scent.
"Like you're not interested in Henri?" Mercedes said.
Mercedes stroked my hair with one hand and traced my bra straps with the other. Then she pressed up behind me. Tight. I felt the seams of her bra. Her legs spooned my legs. Both of her hands reached around and started rubbing my belly, sometimes moving dangerously low. I fought the urge to reach back and caress her body.
Henri caressed my left arm. I didn't pull away from either of them. Vampires craved touch. Not as much as werewolves, apparently, but we longed for it like we longed for blood.
"You people have no sense of personal space, do you?"
Focus. I had to focus, and keep my mind and libido in check.
There was a reason I was there.
"Dane doesn't complain when I get this close and personal with him," Mercedes whispered in my ear. One of her hands started sliding up my belly towards my boobs, while the other dropped quickly toward my nether regions. I immediately grabbed both of her wrists and stopped her.
"Oh, he might be willing to jump your bones, Mercedes, but he isn't interested in becoming a werewolf."
"Really?" Henri said, looking Dane over with hard eyes. I got the distinct feeling Henri didn't like Dane at all. Did Dane stake one of his lieutenants in years past? "You want to recruit him?"
I perked up at the use of that term. Both Henri and Mercedes noticed. Their eyes narrowed.
"He would be alpha, maybe even stronger than me, Henri," Mercedes said.
He cut a look at Dane, not quite twisting his lip into a snarl. Then a look of distaste flashed across his face before he composed himself.
"No, Mercy. You're wasting your time," Henri said, starting to look me over with hungry eyes. "Find another."
"But he's so powerful," she said. She turned worried eyes on Dane, gnawing on her lip. "Can't you feel him?"
"Yes. His kind always radiate power like vampires," he said. "He cannot be changed into a werewolf. It's impossible."
I enjoyed Mercedes' consternation. She really couldn't tell that he was something more than human. I cut a glance at Dane, who was politely chatting up a pretty little brunette with pigtails. I felt his anxiousness to get away from her. No interest in her, despite the fact she was very pretty, half-naked, and willing.
"You're wrong," Mercedes said.
"No, I'm not," he said. "Bite him all you want, but he'll never become one of you. He cannot be changed any more than Sable can be changed into a werewolf."
"No biting!" I said, turning angry eyes on Mercedes. I felt my rage spike. She took a single step back, eyes round, then regained her composure. "Leave Dane alone."
I was rather pleased I frightened her. It was a first. At the same time I didn't want her leaving and going after Dane. I was learning so much from their conversation.
