by Katie Reus
She and Noah joked around all the time and despite that he’d just brought her to orgasm he’d never talked to her like that. It was arousing and erotic and completely disconcerting. Her face—and much lower places—warmed instantly, but she didn’t respond. Doing so would be insanity and just encourage him. And since she’d already met her quota of crazy actions for the day, no, thank you.
“Nothing to say?” he purred again, sounding so smug he might as well be feline.
She bit back a response, knowing anything she said would bite her in the ass later. What had happened to Noah? It was like a switch had been flipped and he was . . . oh no. No, no, no. He might have made that first move but she’d let him in and now he’d be pursuing her like there was no tomorrow. She might as well have hung a neon sign around her neck that said CLAIM ME.
It was his inner wolf taking over, she knew that. The beast had been let out, much like her own inner wolf, and it wouldn’t stop until it claimed her as his mate. And double damn him, she knew he’d never settle for just a mate. He would want to eventually bond and have kids and the whole package. “Noah, I’m not good for you so keep your wolf leashed.”
He laughed, the seductive sound wrapping around her and sending more heat to the pulsing ache between her legs. God, he was so fucking alpha, but she sometimes forgot just how much. Ever since he’d found her near death he’d been walking around on eggshells, being extra sensitive with her. Until roughly a couple of months when he’d seen her fight, and then they’d shared their first kiss. Then he’d started to get more aggressive in his pursuit of her and now he’d apparently taken off the gloves and was coming after her hard. Not that she blamed him.
The heat and attraction between them was combustible. He was so strong and competent and unlike any man she’d ever known. Her inner wolf always wanted to preen and strut around for him. Noah just brought out her most basic, primal side. While she could never be with anyone weak or submissive, something told her that Noah would eventually come to crave someone softer. When she’d been found she’d been just that. Well, not submissive—never that—but she’d been weak and in need of care and nurturing and he’d been there. Every day she grew stronger and there was no way in hell she’d ever be that person again. What happened when Noah realized he wanted someone more feminine and not broken? Someone who could give him everything he deserved, including cubs. Lord knew, Noah deserved the whole damn package, including a big family.
When he didn’t respond further, she slightly relaxed and took another sharp turn. Now wasn’t the time to hash out anything anyway. The warehouse had been a bust, but they’d grabbed a quick bite to eat and she was ready to go.
She had a job to do and right now she planned to break into a Pilates studio while she waited on Ryan to get the home address of a woman named Kelly Bridges. She’d discovered that the human female had also taught classes that Meli had gone to during her pregnancy. That was three shifters with one solid link and Erin didn’t believe in coincidence. She still planned to follow up with the other families, but she had a feeling the missing females had all taken Pilates at CC Pilates. She assumed the CC stood for Crescent City. Not particularly clever, but easy to remember.
They slowly drove past the two-story building of the studio. It was encased on either side with restaurants. One was a bistro that was closed and the other a place that sold gourmet cupcakes. Also closed. Good. Erin didn’t want to risk any nosy neighbors. They parked a few blocks down. After tucking her hair under her cap to hide the vivid color, she and Noah got out. Since darkness had just fallen it would be much easier to blend in to their surroundings.
“I say we go in from the back,” she murmured as she and Noah strode down the sidewalk.
“I’d like to take you from behind.” Noah’s voice was sin and sex.
“Noah! I can’t—Tone it down until later, okay?” She shot him a pleading look.
His dark eyes flared with heat for a moment, but his teasing grin faded and he nodded. “Fair enough. I know we have work to do, but don’t think I’m letting you put me back in some designated box again. You let me out and I’m not stopping until I get what I want.”
She swallowed hard at those words. “Noah, I will never be what you want. Ever.” How could he not understand that? They were both going to get hurt and while she’d come to terms with the fact that once Noah found the right female for him she’d get burned—okay, flayed alive—she didn’t want to cause him pain.
“How about you don’t make decisions for me?” Noah snapped in a tone she’d never heard from him before.
Before she could respond he made a sharp turn down the alley between the bistro and the Pilates studio. Gritting her teeth, she kept pace, her boots quietly thudding against the gravelly ground. When they reached the end of the alley, they both slowed. At the exit she found a small parking lot that was clearly designated for the three shops. It was also empty.
The rancid stench of decaying food wafted from the bistro’s Dumpster next door. Erin breathed through her mouth. Definitely one of the downsides to their oversensitive noses.
“Stay here,” Noah said quietly before darting around the edge of the building.
She stayed put but peeked around the corner and watched him crouch by the door. He pulled out his lockpick kit and made fast work of it. She’d seen him do it before but it never ceased to amaze her how quick he was. He’d once told her this was a leftover skill from his misspent youth. Mere seconds later she heard the snick of a lock popping free.
He shot her a quick glance and nodded as he stepped inside. After glancing around the darkened parking lot again, she darted in after him. No alarm had gone off and even if it had, they didn’t plan to be inside longer than two to three minutes. They didn’t turn on the lights but with their night vision they didn’t need to. After a quick visual scan she was almost certain there weren’t any video cameras around either. Normally she would have done a hell of a lot more recon and been prepared with anything and everything on this female, but the situation didn’t allow it and she had to adapt. Pregnant shifters were missing so she had to jump on this lead now. Erin had come here for one thing—to check the human’s computer. If she needed to come back, she’d do a better sweep next time.
The studio was a decent size but there were no heartbeats in the direct vicinity so no chance of pregnant shifters being held captive inside. Not that Erin had ever considered that a viable possibility. It was more likely the women were being held somewhere isolated. Hiding that many females would require privacy. She figured the offices must be upstairs as they moved into the room with hardwood floors and weirdlooking equipment. Erin was all about staying in shape but this stuff looked too complicated. “I’ll take the upstairs,” she said quietly.
Noah nodded and she hurried toward the front of the building where she guessed the stairs were. Seconds later she was in a sparse office on the second floor. Instead of a chair, there was a big yellow exercise ball under the desk. And the desk had a laptop on it. After slipping on her gloves, Erin fired up the computer and waited. Once it was on, she pulled out one of the flash drives she’d been keeping stored in the center console of her car—according to Jayce she needed to always carry at least three with her—and downloaded everything from the hard drive. By the time she reached the stairs, Noah was waiting at the bottom for her.
“I didn’t find anything interesting, but we’d have to do a full sweep to know for sure,” Noah said as they hurried toward the back door.
“I got whatever’s on her computer, but it could be useless.” Erin wasn’t getting her hopes up that they’d find anything interesting, but she’d still had to try nonetheless. She had to look at every angle until the missing women were found.
As they reached her car, she received a text from Ryan with the human female’s home address. Perfect timing. She handed her phone to Noah as she started the engine. “You know that street?” She could easily plug the address into her car’s GPS, but Noah was fam
iliar with the city and the layout of the streets in New Orleans was odd. She’d discovered that the GPS didn’t always match the correct route. She had a feeling he’d know how to get somewhere quicker than a computer.
He nodded. “Yeah, I know the neighborhood. It’s barely five minutes from here. Finding the address will be easy. Head south.”
Following his directive, she pulled out into the street, then did a U-turn. Her phone buzzed again and Noah looked at it since he was still holding it. “You have a text from Brianna.”
Erin had been wondering when she’d hear from the blond fae. “What’s up?”
“She just texted you the same address Ryan did. She and Angelo are on their way there now. Said they might have a lead.” Noah’s frown matched how Erin felt.
That was very interesting. “Text her that we’re on the way.”
Erin gunned the engine and took the next turn Noah directed her to. If this place was less than five minutes away, she’d just see them when they arrived.
Erin made it in three minutes flat. As they drove past the group of townhomes sitting side by side with barely a sliver of space to separate the buildings, Erin mock shuddered. “I could never live in such an enclosed area.” It was one thing to live in a city, but not to have a backyard or a place to roam free—her wolf would go mad.
“For real,” Noah murmured as his gaze constantly roamed the quiet residential street. Magnolia and oak trees lined it and even in the dark she could see sparkly beads hanging from most of the trees. And each home had a purple and green wreath on the front door. Some were in the form of masks and others were more intricate, but it was clear this street celebrated Mardi Gras, which was barely a month away.
“Park here.” Noah motioned to a giant oak tree in the middle of the sidewalk. It had a wrought iron fence around it as a protective barrier and the sidewalk was cracking where roots were pushing up.
She parked next to the curb behind an extended cab truck she was surprised had even managed to maneuver a parking spot. As she killed the engine she looked at Noah. “When we get out . . .” She held up a finger to her lips and he grinned almost wickedly.
Yep, he understood. They were going hunting and there was no guarantee this human was alone—if she was involved at all. But the signs were pointing in that direction. And according to Meli, shifters had been behind this so she could have backup.
When they passed the house, she shot Noah a sharp look. He frowned and nodded at her unspoken question. He smelled it too.
Blood.
It was fresh. Keeping their pace steady, they continued down the sidewalk until they reached the end of the townhomes. It wasn’t the end of the street though. More houses—shotgun-style and cottages—continued on, but this was the opening they needed.
After making sure they weren’t being watched, Erin and Noah sprinted between the last townhome and a pastel blue and yellow cottage. There was a metal fence surrounding the small backyard of the townhome. From the looks of it, each one had a fence separating the backyards.
By the time she’d looked at Noah, he’d jumped the first fence in one bound. Okay then. Following suit, she used all the strength in her legs and jumped. She raced across the yard, avoiding a kid’s bicycle and toys and continued jumping and sprinting until they reached the backyard they needed to be in.
There was a small table with a mosaic-tiled top on the back porch and two matching chairs, a few hanging plants, but not much else. And that stench of blood was unmistakable and even stronger from the back porch. Creeping along it, she peered into a window with light streaming out. Noah was right behind her.
A lacy white curtain did nothing to hide the horror inside that kitchen. A male and female were on the floor, blood pooled all around their bodies, covering the black-and-white-checkered tile in a river of red. The female’s throat was slit and the male’s heart had been ripped from his chest.
But the worst thing about the scene was the fucking vampires feeding on the bodies. There were three of them and they were so engrossed in their feeding they hadn’t even realized they were being watched. Any vampire over the age of five would have sensed her and Noah by now. This had to be the ferals that vamp Ian was hunting.
Quietly, she crept back across the porch toward the back door. With her hands, she signaled that they should storm the kitchen. Noah nodded, that warrior’s glint in his eyes. He was ready for a fight and more than capable of unleashing hell if needed.
On the count of two she lifted her right booted foot while he lifted his left and they kicked the door in. It splintered under the impact as if it was made of cardboard, flying off the hinges and slamming against one of the vampires biting into the dead male’s wrist.
“We’re not hurting anyone! They were dead when we got here,” the only male out of the three whined as he shoved the door off him. He had stringy black hair that hung down to his shoulders and she couldn’t begin to guess when he’d last showered.
His eyes glowed red, much like a wolf who had turned feral. Yep, these were definitely feral vamps. Before she could respond, one of the female vamps feeding on the dead human lunged at Noah with claws unsheathed. She let out a high-pitched shriek as she aimed for his throat. Did she really think she could take down Noah?
At the same time, the male who’d been whining lunged at Erin. Without pause and with incredible speed borne of her abilities, she unzipped her jacket and whipped out a blade. Before he’d even made contact with her, she sliced hard and fast through his neck.
Because of the angle, blood sprayed to the left, bathing the stainless steel refrigerator in a shower of crimson. The vamp’s head rolled to the floor with a thud the same time Noah dropped the female vamp’s body to the floor—without her heart. Damn. She’d seen Noah fight before and she knew he was strong, but to realize he’d done that in human form still awed her.
By the time both bodies made contact with the tile, the third female vamp who’d been too busy feeding to even pay attention to them before, looked up.
Her curly brown hair was matted against her pale, ivory face and her red eyes were wilder than the male who had just tried to attack Erin. This one was so far gone there was barely a flicker of awareness in her glowing gaze. She wiped her bloody mouth with the back of her wrist and stared at them. Blinking, she looked back and forth between Erin and Noah, looked at the fallen bodies, then went back to feeding.
“Holy shit,” Erin breathed out, horrified beyond belief.
Noah’s dark eyes widened, mirroring her own shock. Erin didn’t want to attack and kill someone who wasn’t attacking her, but this creature clearly needed to be put down. Before she could ask Noah what his opinion was, she scented intruders.
Noah did too. Backing up, they moved away from where the door had once been, tensing for an attack. A moment later Ian filled the doorway.
His gaze swept the kitchen, taking in the carnage, without a flicker of emotion. Then without a word he withdrew his sword, strode over to the female who was still feeding, and sliced her head off. One clean stroke.
The dark-haired female turned to dust. Under other circumstances that might have surprised Erin but she knew that Jayce’s blades could do the same thing to vampires since they’d been blessed by the fae. And her own Alpha’s mate had a blade that could dust feral shifters. She guessed Ian’s sword had a similar blessing.
“I take it these are the ferals you’ve been hunting?” Erin asked. She could see the outlines of his team out on the back porch but they didn’t make a move to enter the kitchen.
That soothed Erin’s wolf. She didn’t want to be cooped up with a bunch of strangers she’d recently battled against.
Ian nodded as he slammed his blade into the other dead bodies. They also turned to dust and when Erin glanced at the refrigerator, where the blood spray had once been was a coating of the same colored dust. Very cool.
“Yes,” he said quietly. “There are still more out there though. Someone has been turning vampires who ar
e not emotionally stable enough and far too young. I didn’t tell you earlier but we are hunting their maker and any of those who have turned feral. These three”—he motioned with his head to the scattering of ash—“we followed from the morgue where they’d attempted to break in.”
“They didn’t kill this female or the male.” Erin motioned to the two bodies still on the kitchen floor. One human female, one male vamp.
Ian nodded and sheathed his sword. She was fascinated that such a large weapon could be concealed so nicely beneath that coat. “I didn’t think so. Other than the fact that ferals are inherently lazy and want quick food no matter how disgusting, these vampires are much too young to take on a strong vampire. Who are the dead? Is that why you’re here?”
Erin flicked a look at Noah who simply clenched his jaw. Yeah, she didn’t have to be a mind reader to realize he didn’t want to tell Ian anything either. Erin didn’t know much about this vamp—though she had received a quick text from Jayce earlier telling her that he knew the guy and he wasn’t a liar, but that she still shouldn’t trust him or anyone—and she didn’t plan on telling Ian anything until he gave her something in return.
“Why would any vampires want pregnant shifters? And why haven’t you called yet? You’ve had an entire day.”
“The majority of my team sleeps during the day so my time and resources are limited.” Ian scrubbed a hand over his face, the action taking Erin off guard. He looked weary. As he opened his mouth to continue, Erin scented others nearby. Brianna and Angelo.
At the same time she smelled them, the vamps outside must have seen them.
“Who the hell are they?” one of them muttered. Then, “Stop!”
Erin hurried outside, elbowing past them into the backyard. Noah wasn’t far behind.
Angelo and Brianna had jumped the fence and were striding toward them. It looked like they’d come in the same way she and Noah had. Erin watched as Brianna’s left hand glowed that eerie blue she’d seen only once before. That woman might be small and almost angelic looking but Erin had seen her take off a guy’s head with a blast of energy. It had been freakishly cool but also a little terrifying since the fae’s powers had evidently been drained when she’d done it. Erin would love to see the woman at full capacity—only if that particular skill wasn’t directed at her.
