“I know,” she said. “I remember. I saw it all.”
“That’s right. You did. But when I returned to my SUV, I fell into a hole because of the corrupt nature of our world. I stayed there for days.”
“What pulled you out of it?”
“Time, I guess.” A soft smile touched his lips. “And you. I started hanging around the Trib after that, wanting to see you, to get to know you.”
It came back to her as though it was yesterday. Drake standing up to Donaldson in that moment was why she let him keep his hand on her knee and why she was close to surrendering to his pursuit. “You know something, Drake?”
His brows rose. “What’s that?”
“You’d be smart to kiss me right now.”
“Really?” He seemed surprised.
“Oh, yeah.”
Drake turned in the booth, his knee pressed against her leg. He slid an arm around her shoulders. She stared into his eyes for a long moment. They were an unusual hazel, almost green with lots of gold flecks. His brows were thick and arched. Joy was right, he was freaking handsome.
He switched to telepathy. I’ve wanted to kiss you again, so badly.
Me, too.
His gaze fell to her lips. She’d expected him to move straight in for the kiss. Instead, he took his time and with his free hand ran his thumb over her lower lip. She parted for him and licked the full length.
He met her gaze again then leaned close.
Her breath caught as she closed her eyes and he settled his lips on hers.
Heaven.
And something more.
She felt a tremendous surge of energy that reminded her of what it was to transform into a wolf. She hadn’t shifted often in her two years as an alter wolf. She hadn’t wanted to.
But the change in her DNA demanded that she let loose and give herself to the shifting experience. She’d found it unnerving.
And that’s what she felt right now, as Drake kissed her, an almost overwhelming need to transform into a wolf.
Drake eased back and spoke in a quiet voice, “What’s wrong, Verena?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you not want to do this with me?”
She hadn’t been looking at him, but now she did. “Oh, no, that’s not it all. I wanted you to kiss me and it was wonderful.”
He narrowed his gaze. “Is it your husband? Are you missing him?”
“No, that’s not it. I promise you.”
He leaned back slightly, his head angled. “Is it your wolf?”
She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. She made a wolf sound, something she didn’t like to do but it felt appropriate, sort of a snort and grunt combined. “I’ve never been completely comfortable with my wolfness. And when you kissed me, I could feel my wolf energy rise. You have to remember, I left Savage Territory before I gained a real sense of what it was to be a shifter.”
He leaned close and kissed her cheek. “Are you saying I arouse your wolf?”
“Yes, you do. I’m just not used it.”
He kissed her cheek again, only this time closer to her lips. “We can take it slow.”
Verena pressed her face into the kiss. Her body felt lit up from her head to her toes. Her desire became a hum through her body that continued to feel like her wolf.
This time, she ignored her disquiet. She turned her head, moving her lips toward his.
The kiss that followed became electric. In the booth, she couldn’t engage fully, but she was able to throw her arm around his neck and hold him tight.
He pulled her against him and as she parted her lips, he drove his tongue into her mouth. With so many people around, she repressed the moan that wanted to break free from her throat.
She’d wanted this date with Drake so badly and this was why. She wanted to be with him, to share his body and his bed. She knew that’s what he wanted as well. For the past several months, she’d seen the raw hunger in his eyes whenever he looked at her.
She’d felt the same way from the moment she’d first seen him. She’d watched him yell at Donaldson for letting Mellet go free. She remembered thinking, here was a man of worth.
She drew back, ready to suggest they leave the party even though they’d barely just arrived, when she felt a strange sensation on her cheeks, like the drift of fingers.
She put both hands to her face.
“What is it?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “But I’ve heard of this. I think there’s a ghost here with us.”
Drake glanced around. “I don’t see anything.”
Verena leaned back in her seat. “It’s here. In fact, it feels masculine. Very much so.” She gasped. “I know who it is.” Tears filled her eyes.
“Who?”
“My husband.”
~ ~ ~
Drake released a long slow breath and took his time sliding his arm from around Verena’s shoulders. He’d never used the term ‘buzz-kill’ much, but if the sudden appearance of Verena’s dead shifter husband didn’t fit that description exactly, he didn’t know what else did.
He picked up his whisky and threw the rest back.
Drake stared straight ahead. The minefield was back.
He mentally unplugged the lights he’d put on the ficus tree in the back patio then picked up the poinsettia off the fireplace hearth and dumped it in the garbage.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.” Her voice sounded crushed.
“You can say anything you want to me, Verena.”
“I didn’t invite him here, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“I’m not thinking that.” He lifted his tumbler and angled it so that he was staring at the carved glass bottom. It looked like a star. “I think it’s simple. You still love Aaron.” He wanted a refill. Bad.
He had half-risen from his seat, glass in hand, when she caught the inside of his arm at the elbow and pulled hard. He fell back into the booth and frowned at her. “I’m just going to get another drink.”
“You jealous of a ghost, Drake?”
“Hell, yeah, I am. There, I’ve said it. I know how much you loved him.”
An odd, determined look came over her face. She tugged his arm down, off the table, then grabbed his hand. The next thing he knew, she slipped it beneath her dress and slid his hand the entire length of her bare thigh. He could feel that her legs were parted. “You don’t need to be.”
“Verena. Jesus.”
“I want you, Drake. I do. I don’t know why Aaron showed up.”
“Is he gone?”
“Yes. And what I felt from him was something close to approval. I think he’s glad you’re in my life.”
Okay, he pulled the poinsettia out of the garbage and plugged the lights back in. “You want to get out of here?”
Her lips quirked. “Hell, yeah, I do.”
He loved that she echoed what he’d just said.
He was about to leave his seat, when a familiar rough voice drew his attention.
“Happy holidays,” Fergus called out to him. “Verena, how are you?”
The alpha wolf of the Gordion Pack extended his hand to each of them in turn. Verena wished him a Merry Christmas.
He seemed different to Drake these days, but then love had found him in Savage Territory in a fae woman of exceptional beauty and power.
“Is Mary with you?” Verena asked.
“She’ll be joining me later. But listen, I’ve wanted to extend an invitation to you for a long time. I was very much aware of what was going on in your pack when you and your husband first arrived. I regretted the weak leadership that allowed an illegal dominance fight to take your husband’s life. But as you know, alphas don’t interfere in pack business not their own.”
“I know and I appreciate your kind words. But it’s also one of the reasons I left.”
He frowned slightly. “If you ever want to return to Savage, I will wholeheartedly accept you into my pack, no questions asked.”
�
�You would? Even though I broke a sacred Savage law by leaving as I did?”
“We all knew what was going on, that Mellet had forced Aaron to a dominance fight. That your alpha had allowed it to take place, well, I came close to starting a war over it.”
“You did?” Verena sounded stunned.
“Of course I did. Several of the alphas met after that fight, those men who want good things for Savage. We made a pact from that moment on that if we ever witnessed that kind of goading in another pack, we’d take steps. It’s now a law in the territory.”
“I didn’t know.”
“You were wise to come to Elegance, but I wanted you to know that Aaron’s death was a turning point. Granted, we still have an abundance of issues to clear up and it will take years to accomplish, but several of us are trying our best. And anytime you want to come home, you can.”
Drake appreciated what Fergus was saying to Verena, but he feared that damn minefield had returned. Verena had made her desires clear and he was itching to get going.
He watched her blink several times, her eyes wide. “Thank you, Fergus. What you’ve told me means an awful lot.”
Fergus rapped his knuckles on the table. “It’s hard enough becoming an alter wolf without having to confront the kind of situation you and Aaron faced. Again, if you ever want to come back, you’ll always have a place in the Gordion Pack.”
Verena thanked him again and when a group called to Fergus from the direction of the bar, he smiled once more, then headed off.
Drake turned to her. “But if you went back, do I have it right that Fergus would have to battle the alpha of the pack you left for the right to bring you into his pack?”
Verena nodding slowly. “That’s exactly what it means.” She put her hand to her cheek. “I never thought I’d hear an alpha say anything like that.”
“Me, neither.”
“This night has really surprised me.”
When she covered his hand with her warm fingers and added some pressure, he smiled. He would have suggested, again, that they leave, but her phone rang.
She lifted her small black beaded clutch onto the table and drew her phone out. “It’s the Trib.”
“Are you on call? I thought you specifically got the night off?”
“I did, but Sophie has permission to reach me when certain situations come up.”
“You mean abductions.”
She compressed her lips for a moment. “Yes, but specifically of teenage girls.”
Drake felt like a bastard, but right now he wished Verena’s damn phone in the bottom of a fucking lake.
With a resigned sigh, he mentally shut off the last of the Christmas lights and slammed the front door shut.
Chapter Two
VERENA DREW HER phone to her ear. “Hi, Sophie. What’s going on?”
The words that followed chilled her heart. “Fifteen minutes ago, I got a call from a frantic mother who said Mellet had abducted her daughter, a young teen name Crystal. They were having a big party in their backyard when suddenly several of the teens started passing out. Apparently, Crystal was one of them, but she was abducted by the time her mother took a head count. The punch had been spiked with Christmas Flame, you know that drug used around the holidays that tastes like rum.”
Verena knew all about the drug. It had a Rufie effect, knocking the victim out and allowing all sorts of bad things to happen. The drug was called Christmas Flame because it marked the user with a red-and-green flame on the neck and cheeks.
“Wait a minute. How did the mother know it was Mellet?”
“She recognized him because he’s been in the Phoenix news lately as a most-wanted. Apparently, the bastard faced her on the street and flipped her off before getting into his car.
“But the woman was smart. She had her phone with her and got a video of him, middle finger and all. He even called her a dumb bitch. I’m looking at the video now.”
“Send it to me.”
“I just did.”
The wolf in Verena began to writhe. Shifters were generally hot-headed because of their DNA, but she’d worked hard for two years to keep her beast in check.
She glanced at Drake and slipped into telepathy. Did you get all that? Vampires had excellent hearing.
I did. He withdrew his arm from around her shoulder and pulled out his phone. I’m going to start making some calls.
“Sophie, I’ll call you right back.”
“Okay.”
Verena slid the face of her phone until she found the video. She held it for Drake to see. And there was Mellet, his long, dark oily hair hanging around his shoulders, his wide smile with a couple of crisscrossed teeth, his bulbous nose. ‘Merry Christmas, you dumb bitch.’
Wolf energy flowed through Verena’s abdomen and chest in a swift figure-eight pattern, over and over, faster and faster. Rage boiled within her mind. This was Mellet, the man who had killed her husband in an illegal dominance fight and who routinely kidnapped young human teens to bring into Five Bridges. She wanted him dead.
Forcing herself to calm down, she called Sophie again. “I’m back.”
“Verena, you okay? You sound like you’re wheezing.”
“I’m fine. It’s a wolf thing. But I looked at the video and sort of lost it. I have Officer Drake with me. He’s making some calls. Do you know which bridge Mellet used?”
“No, I don’t.”
Drake caught her gaze, then communicated telepathically. Just got word. Mellet was seen crossing Defiance Bridge into Savage Territory. He had an unconscious girl in the back seat. She watched Drake’s nostrils flare. That bastard didn’t even bother to cover her up, to pretend he wasn’t doing something illegal.
She relayed the information to Sophie, then added, “Call me if you learn anything else.”
“I will.”
As soon as Verena returned her phone to her purse, she glanced at her wrists. A dusting of light-colored wolf fur had already started to show. She was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to keep herself from shifting, not with this much rage hammering at her.
She turned to Drake and met his gaze. The holiday spirit had definitely fled the moment. She saw the anger that she felt reflected in his eyes. “What’s being done to get her back?” she asked.
“Everything. Mellet’s car, with red flames on the side, isn’t exactly hard to find. Unfortunately, he’s known for having a dozen hiding places in Savage. It’s one of the reasons he’s so arrogant. He’s in the pocket of the cartels and he knows how to hide.” A lot of wolves lived underground, having built intricate dens and pack communities.
“He was one of the most devious wolves I knew while I lived there.” She drew in a deep breath through her nostrils. She felt her nose elongate slightly, a sure sign she was on the edge. “Drake, I’m sorry. I’ve gotta get out of here.”
“You’re close to a change, aren’t you?”
“I am. What Mellet has done has infuriated me.”
Joy returned about the same time, but her brows rose as she looked at Verena. “What happened?”
Verena explained, then made her apologies, but she had to leave.
“I understand.” Joy thanked each of them again.
After Verena hugged her, she headed for the front lobby and out into the street. The cooler air helped, but her skin itched. She slid her purse under her arm, then scratched the fur at her wrists and neck.
“I need a place to run. But where? I don’t want to be seen on the streets. Any number of spellcasters would be happy to shoot at me, especially in wolf form.”
“I know a place.”
She turned to Drake. “You do? Where?”
“Come on. I’ll take you there right now. You can shift and have a solid run. How does that sound?”
She hesitated, but only for a split-second. “Exactly like what I need.”
She’d kept this part of herself hidden from Drake. But if they were going to date, he should know the darkest parts of her life as a wolf.
>
When he held out his arm to her, she gripped her purse, stepped up on his right foot and held onto his neck. His firm hold on her waist made her feel very secure as he took off into the air.
He headed north toward Crescent, vampire territory. She switched to telepathy for the flight. I won’t be any safer in your territory. Vampires hate shifters.
She heard him laugh. Not all vampires are that stupid.
She couldn’t help it. She smiled.
Glancing down, she realized they were pretty high in the air. In the distance, she could see the well-lit human Phoenix border. Years ago, Five Bridges had been cordoned off by massive amounts of barbed wire. The entire perimeter of the ghetto was managed by the U.S Border Patrol with searchlights that patrolled the skies constantly. It wasn’t hard to know the exact location of the border.
Only those alter species who received special passports from the Tribunal could come and go from Five Bridges. Everyone else had to remain within the boundaries of the province. Being caught out in the human part of Phoenix without a passport, could result in an on-the-spot execution. Mellet clearly had connections with the cartels that he could travel outside the province as easily as he did. She just wondered when even the local drug lords would get tired of his brazen abductions.
As the regular buildings were left behind, the half mile to the border, sometimes called the deadzone, was a miserable stretch of land. Houses had been blown up and bulldozed. The Tribunal had created hundreds of ditches, now full of cactus, intended to keep any drug-runners from getting very far. There was hardly any indication this had once been a suburban part of Phoenix. Instead, it looked like a warzone.
As Drake continued to fly in the direction of the border and the searchlights appeared ever closer, she grew nervous. What exactly do you have in mind?
You’ll see and don’t worry. I have friends who work the U.S. Patrol.
Somehow, she wasn’t surprised. Drake made friends wherever he went.
~ ~ ~
The moment Verena had taken the call from her coworker at the Tribunal, Drake knew his plans had dropped into the toilet. He was working hard not to think only of himself, but flying with his arm around Verena had his cock twitching all over again. He wanted the woman bad and had a difficult time shifting his focus away from his bed.
Alphas Unwrapped: 21 New Steamy Paranormal Tales of Shifters, Vampires, Werewolves, Dragons, Witches, Angels, Demons, Fey, and More Page 25
