Anger and animosity Quentin could deal with. This unfeeling robot of a vampire he couldn’t. He had no idea what would have happened between the two of them if Hunter hadn’t broken up with him, but he didn’t want Hunter to be alone. Of course, Hunter was never truly going to be happy if he tried to pretend a part of himself didn’t exist.
Quentin closed his eyes and tried to sleep. He had an hour before he had to work that evening. He was a police officer and was on second-shift duty that week. Then, once he got off work, he had to go out as a sentinel.
One job was to be on the lookout for humans behaving badly, and the other was looking out for shifters behaving badly. He really should have found more variety in his two jobs. But it did help the wolves to have a connection on the inside of the police. And, if something weird or non-human came up, Quentin was usually able to fix it. It wasn’t legal, but humans couldn’t know about them.
Right now, Quentin was really hoping that he’d have one long and boring night.
BRAM VARG IMPATIENTLY tapped his fingers against the steering wheel while sitting in front of Isabelle’s school. He looked at the clock again. It was five minutes after five. She was five minutes late. She knew better than that.
He tried her cell again for the fourth time. It went straight to voice mail.
Bram shoved his door open and got out of his car. He slammed the door shut, marched into the building, and went straight to Isabelle’s classroom.
Empty.
Bram took a couple of deep breaths before going to the school’s office. He needed to rein in his temper. He’d let Isabelle know how much she’d disappointed him when they got home.
There were two secretaries in the office when he got there.
“Where’s Isabelle Rand?”
“Excuse me?” the young brunette said.
Calm breath.
“Isabelle. Rand.” He looked at his watch. “She’s late. I came to pick her up, and I can’t find her.” Bram forced a smile.
“Oh.” The brunette looked confused. “Isabelle called in sick today.”
“She couldn’t have called in sick because I dropped her off this morning.” You dumb cunt.
She shook her head.
Bram put his nose in the air and took a deep breath. The brunette wasn’t lying, but she and the older gray-haired secretary were both afraid.
Dumb bitches had better be if they know what’s good for them.
“What time did she call?” he asked through teeth he was fighting not to clench.
Young bitch went to a stack of papers and began flipping through them. Old bitch flew out of her chair and went to the back of the office, down a hall.
“She called at seven forty-eight.”
“But I dropped her off at seven.”
Young bitch shook her head in a panic. “I’m sorry. I didn’t show up until seven thirty this morning. It was an in-service day. There weren’t any students.”
I am going to kill Isabelle.
Old bitch came back to the main office with a man. Bram immediately sized the human up. He could snap the skinny prick with one hand.
Skinny prick held out his hand. “Hello. I’m Principal Calder. May I help you?”
Bram wanted to punch him in the face, but he knew, if he did, he wouldn’t stop until the stupid human was a bleeding mess on the ground.
“I am looking for my girlfriend. Isabelle Rand.”
Skinny prick looked puzzled. “I’m sorry. I was told Ms. Rand called in sick today.” He looked over to the young bitch, who nodded.
Bram wasn’t going to get anywhere with these losers. “Fine. If you see her for some reason, let her know I’m looking for her.”
As Bram stalked back to his car, he tried Isabelle again, and once more, he got her voice mail.
He raced to their home. It had originally been Isabelle’s apartment, but he’d slowly begun spending more time there and leaving more stuff there, and before she had known it, he had moved in.
He still had his apartment. He couldn’t bring random bitches home and fuck them in front of Isabelle. He managed to push her around a lot, but he knew that would be the end of their relationship.
As he went through every room in the apartment, he began to panic. He had searched for months for the perfect mate to bring home to his father, and Isabelle fit the bill.
He needed someone who wasn’t gorgeous, so his father couldn’t say he’d married for looks. But she had to be good-looking enough to fuck. He’d shuddered at some of the ugos he’d considered.
He needed someone with a wholesome image, and who was better than a schoolteacher? No one.
And he also needed someone with a backbone, so his father couldn’t accuse him of manipulating the situation. But he didn’t need one of those feminist bitches. He still wore the pants in the fucking relationship.
The icing on the cake was that he’d found out Isabelle would be going through her mating heat soon. It was perfect. He’d knock the slut up, and his father would see he was a family man.
He wished he could go home to Chicago and challenge his father. But his father had warned Bram that, if he came back and challenged him for alpha, he had put safeguards in place. Ones that included Bram’s death. Bram might not like his old man, but he respected his tenacity. If his father wanted him dead, Bram would be dead.
That was why he needed to show his father he’d changed. Isabelle was the key.
Bram went through the apartment one more time. Everything was in place. No clothes were missing. No luggage was missing. But Bram knew the bitch had left him.
He picked up the vase of flowers that Isabelle always kept on the dining room table and threw it across the room. It shattered against the wall, a piece coming back to hit his face.
There was no way his father wasn’t going to find out that his girlfriend had left him. That she had snuck away like she was some prisoner.
The fucking bitch was dead. She had better run far away because, if he found her, he was going to make her suffer for making him look like a fool.
ZANE KNOCKED ON the bedroom door. It was almost dark outside, and he would be heading out for the night. He needed to talk to Isabelle before he left.
He heard movement on the other side, and then she swung the door open. Her scent, which reminded him of lilacs, deepened.
“Oh, it’s you.”
Zane put a hand to his chest. “Ouch.” He was trying to make light of her comment, but it did sting a little. He didn’t know what he had done to make her not like him. He’d thought they’d parted on good terms. For the most part.
Okay, he was lying to himself. The day she’d left, she’d been planning to sneak away without saying good-bye to him. He’d confronted her, they’d had hot sex, filled with anger and resentment, and then he’d let her go. So, maybe things hadn’t ended well. But he’d been upset and hurt. He’d thought that maybe they had the start of something good together, but she hadn’t wanted to have anything to do with him.
It seemed like she still felt that way.
“Look, Isabelle,” he said, purposely not using her nickname so that she would understand how important this was, “I know I’m not your ideal mate. I know I’m not the one you want.”
Isabelle opened her mouth, but Zane grabbed her hands. He had a feeling he wouldn’t like what was going to come out of her mouth.
“I know this is not the situation you pictured when you dreamed of a happily ever after, but you’re in a bad state, Isa.” Zane closed his eyes and tried not to picture Bram hurting Isabelle. Zane had immediately Googled the wolf-shifter, and his image alone had put Zane on edge. He opened his eyes. “I don’t want to see you hurt. I’m not trying to trap you into anything. I don’t want to force you to be my mate. I just don’t want this guy to hurt you.”
He dropped her hands and stepped back.
“And I know you’re tough, but I saw his picture, and the guy is huge. And it looks like he has a couple of goons with him wherever he goes.”
&n
bsp; “Yeah, they’re his ‘bodyguards,’” Isabelle said with air quotes. “They’re really his muscle and the ones who do his dirty work.”
“I don’t get it. How did you end up with someone like him?” An asshole, a girlfriend beater, and Zane hadn’t seen a single picture with a smile on the dick’s face.
He was the opposite of Zane. And maybe that was why Isabelle had dated Bram. Maybe a class clown like Zane wasn’t what she wanted. Even if he’d made her come like nobody else.
Her words, not his.
He shook his head. Now was not the time to think about sex or feel sorry for himself. He held up his hand. “I’m sorry I asked,” he told Isabelle. “Why you dated him is none of my business.”
“Thank you,” she said, looking surprised. “But I’m still not exactly on board with this plan.”
“I get it. But I want you to remember, it’s not just you that’s involved. It’s the sentinels, possibly your whole pack.”
“So, I should just involve your pride, too? Add more people to the mix?”
Okay, so she had a point, but the answer was obvious. “Yes. My pride and your pack together are no match for Bram. If his father got involved, it could be the Illinois Pack against the Minnesota Pack, but he couldn’t take on the Minnesota Pride as well. And, if we got the vampires involved…” Bram’s father wouldn’t want to mess with them.
“So, should I mate with a vampire, too? I know one of them is staying here. We could have a lovely ménage à trois going on. How would you like that?”
Zane snapped his fingers and smiled. “Now, that’s an excellent idea. I’ve never done it with another dude, but what the hell?”
She put her hands on her hips. “I was being sarcastic.”
Zane mimicked her. “I know.”
She threw her hands up in the air, and her hazel eyes rolled toward the ceiling. “You’re so frustrating, you know that?”
He shrugged. “It’s part of my charm.”
It was part of his charm. There was just something about this cat that Isabelle couldn’t explain when she told others about him.
She hadn’t seen him in two years, but he hadn’t changed much. His dark blond hair was a little shorter on the sides, and there was a little more seriousness in his sea-green eyes, but that could be the situation.
She sighed and sat on the bed.
She knew she was being a little selfish about the situation, but she had so many thoughts and emotions running through her head. When she thought about Bram and the danger he presented, the obvious answer was to mate with Zane. It was the safest and smartest option. She didn’t want to put her life in danger. That was why she’d left in the first place. But she certainly didn’t want to endanger anyone else either.
But her heart. Her heart was the one struggling.
There was a part of her, way down deep, that wanted Zane to be her mate. It was the silly, fantasies-come-true part of her.
But Zane wouldn’t be mating with her because he loved her. He would be doing it to keep her safe. It was the sentinel in him.
If only they’d never had sex. If only she didn’t feel like they had a connection because of the past. Then, her head would be clearer. She could think and assess more rationally.
Zane came and sat next to her. She secretly hoped he’d put his arm around her and comfort her, but he didn’t. He kept a proper distance. Besides grabbing her hands earlier, he hadn’t touched her. She loved that he respected her, yet she wanted to pound her fists against his chest and ask why he wasn’t more affected.
“I’m not trying to push you into anything,” he said. “But, if it helps, I would never force myself on you. We will be mates in name only. No sex.”
She felt even more depressed. Of course, she didn’t want him to expect her to sleep with him, but it seemed like he wasn’t even interested while she’d never forgotten their time together. Nobody made her feel things the way Zane had.
She was a mess of contradictions.
“Thanks for your sacrifice.” She couldn’t quite keep the bitterness out of her voice.
He narrowed his eyes. “What the hell does that mean?”
She looked away. “It means that you’re in the same situation I am. You’re doing this because it’s the right thing. You’re not doing it…” Because you want to be with me. Because you love me.
“Don’t worry about me.”
“Of course. Zane the martyr.”
He jumped up. “I’m not a fucking martyr. Jesus, what is up with you?”
She wished she knew.
He swiped a hand down his face and took a huge breath. “Look, no one is making me do this. I’m not doing this for the greater good. I’m doing this because I want to.”
“But why?”
“My reasons are my own, okay? You wouldn’t understand.” He pointed a finger. “But I’m not a fucking martyr.”
“Okay. I’m sorry I said that.”
He nodded his head. “Will you just tell me when you decide? I need to let my alpha know if we’re going to go through with this.”
She tilted her head to the side. “You’re not going to ask his permission?”
He sighed. “I probably should since it involves the whole pride, but no. This is my decision.”
Wow. Isabelle had no words.
“You’re looking at me funny.”
She shook her head to clear it. “Sorry.”
He raised his brow. “So, you’ll let me know when you decide?”
She stood. “Yes.”
He turned to go.
“Zane?”
He swung back around.
“What happens if I tell you no?”
He stiffened but only for a moment, and then he shrugged. “I don’t know. I suppose that’s for you, Damien, and the wolf sentinels to decide.”
“Will you still be around if I mate with a wolf?”
Zane’s jaw tightened, and he looked away. “Yes. I’ll still be a part of the liaison program.”
Payton had explained to Isabelle why Zane and the vampire were here when she showed her to the room.
Zane looked her in the eye. “Just don’t expect to see me much.” He turned once again.
“Zane?”
He stopped but stayed facing away from her this time.
“I’ve made my decision.”
He swallowed. “Yeah?”
“I’m going to do it.”
He didn’t say anything. He didn’t move a muscle. But his rich sandalwood scent flooded the room, and Isabelle knew she’d made the right call.
TEGAN LEONARD REACHED out her arms and squeezed her hands. “Gimme, gimme, gimme,” she said to her friend and co-sentinel Phoenix. “I want to hold Ash.”
Phoenix kissed her baby boy on the top of his head and then ever so slowly handed him to Tegan.
Dante put his arm around Phoenix. “She’s a little overprotective,” he explained.
Tegan laughed. “I can see that.” It had taken almost two months to convince Phoenix to bring the baby to the bunkhouse. “Who would have thought?” Not her. Of the two female cat-sentinels, Tegan had always assumed that she would mate and have a baby before Phoenix. Life sure was funny sometimes. She looked down at the baby in her arms. “Your mommy loves you, doesn’t she?”
Ash yawned in response, and Tegan laughed.
Tegan looked at Phoenix. “Where did you get his name?”
Phoenix blushed, surprising Tegan. The female was tough and didn’t do blushing.
Dante laughed at his mate. “It’s a play on fire. Dante’s Inferno, Phoenix rising from the ashes.”
Tegan smiled. “Pretty clever.”
“It’s cheesy,” Phoenix said.
Tegan barked out a laugh, which caused the baby to scrunch up his face.
Tegan bounced him up and down in her arms. “No, no, don’t cry. I’m sorry I laughed.” She rubbed her cheek against his soft, dark hair, and the baby calmed.
There was a noise from the hall, and
Ram walked out. “Hey, Dante. I thought I’d heard your voice.”
Ram was one of Dante’s Guardians. He had basically taken Phoenix’s spot with the cat-shifter sentinels. She and Dante had come up with this liaison program to help them get to know each other better and work together more. Tegan thought it was an ingenious way for Phoenix to stay with the Guardians.
Ram was huge. A few inches over six feet with large muscles. He looked like he could crush anyone with his bare hands. But watching him with Dante and Dante with Phoenix had Tegan’s mind wandering.
What was so special about Dante that Phoenix had given up her self-imposed celibacy to mate and have a baby with the vampire? Tegan had tried to get information out of Phoenix, but it would be easier to break into Fort Knox. Phoenix was not a gabber or a gossiper.
The only thing Tegan had been able to discern was that there was something to do with blood and feeding. To say it made her curious was an understatement. She’d always been sexually open. She dated whoever had caught her fancy. Men and women, although she always found herself coming back to men. There was just something about a big, hard dick that a dildo could never replace.
Ram walked over to Tegan. His hair was short and dark blond or light brown, depending on the light. His yellow eyes were his best feature though, and they lit up as he looked down at the baby. “Cute kid.”
“Thanks,” Dante said.
Tegan held out her arms. “Do you want to hold him?” she asked, fully expecting him to say no.
He shrugged. “Sure.”
As Tegan handed the baby over to Ram, she looked over at Phoenix, whose eyes were as big as the plates in the cupboard.
“Don’t worry; I won’t drop him,” Ram said even though he was looking at the baby.
Dante laughed.
Tegan noticed that Ram smelled sweet, like honey, and when their fingers touched, she noticed how warm his skin was. There wasn’t a zing or spark, but it didn’t stop Tegan from wondering what it would be like to have sex with Ram. And this wasn’t the first time the thought had crossed her mind since the male moved in.
He looked up and met her eyes, the look in them knowing. He couldn’t possibly have guessed what she was thinking, but even if he had, she wasn’t shy about her interest. If he were game, she’d totally give him a ride. Or let him give her one.
Forbidden Claim Page 3
