Blood & Wine

by Selena Page

  Miah felt sick to her stomach, but she tried not to show it. Tears filled her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She inhaled deeply, glancing back up at the man, “Well, then, I guess we should get it done.” Her voice sounded more certain than she felt. More pain, so soon after her little…ordeal. She didn’t know if she could handle it, emotionally.

  On the other hand, maybe she had to. Face the demons head on. The things Thaddeus had done to her weren’t her fault, and this; this was all about making her better. Making sure she could walk again. Making her whole and erasing some of the damage.

  The man looked surprised, and she realized that she didn’t know his name. She’d never asked Elise, for fear that she’d imagined her hero.

  “Only, um. I still don’t know your name. So, before you go and break my poor busted leg…”

  His eyes widened slightly and he laughed as he looked down at her, “What? Elise didn’t talk about me?”

  Miah shook her head once, “We don’t talk much. We mostly just…sit. She’s peaceful, and she helps me not lose my shit so much.”

  The darkness in his eyes swirled as he looked at her for a long moment. She felt stripped bare under his gaze, and it made her squirm. She wasn’t sure if he made her feel like a worm, or something beautiful and precious. Fairly certain he intended to look at her like a worm. Whoever he was, he was powerful, and way beyond her reach.

  After a long moment he smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. Miah could feel her stomach turn over. He was so beautiful when he smiled, all the weight that he carried on his shoulders seemed to drift away. “Finn McKinnon. And it’s a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance officially, Miss Caprice.”

  Miah couldn’t help but return the smile, extending a hand carefully, “Thank you for saving me.”

  Chapter 10

  Christ, the girl was a goddess. When she smiled at him, he felt the room spin. Her green eyes sparkled, and her face lit up. He had a picture of her in his mind, dressed in a clingy gown, happy and relaxed and whole. Smiling and laughing, moving with grace and ease. And god help him; he was going to move heaven and hell to make sure this little bird got that.

  He didn’t need to be able to read minds to know how terrified she was, and who could blame her. A dream trip to Europe turned into a special kind of hell with one of the last great monsters of the earth. Most women would be little more than huddled masses on the floor, if they even survived the encounter. Three months. Three months with Thaddeus, and he could only imagine what the bastard had done to her in that time. Yet, she was alive. Even in the moments when he rescued her, she had tried to fight him off. In three months, she didn’t lose her will to live, her fight to survive.

  Hell, he knew most werewolves who wouldn’t be able to last that long under the tender loving care of a Vampire. And here she was, a slip of a girl, showing all of them how to hold out to the most vicious of interrogation techniques.

  Interrogation. Finn stopped as the thought dawned on him, his eyes narrowing slightly. Thaddeus hadn’t killed her, because he needed her. He needed more than just her blood, he needed something else that she had. He glanced down at her and watched her for a long moment. He had to talk to her, he needed to know what she knew. He needed to stop Thaddeus before it was too late.

  A look of uncertainty crossed her eyes, and he tried to wipe his worry off his face. Dammit, he was too expressive, and she was too empathic. He had to be more careful around her, he couldn’t put his shit on her shoulders.

  Finn nodded his head once, turning back to the conversation at hand, “All right. Before we do this, before we deal with your leg…” He paused. There was no good way to ask this. He couldn’t dull the words that he knew would hurt her. “What did Thaddeus want with you? In the six months we’ve been hunting him, you are the only girl he left alive. Why?”

  Miah’s body stilled and her eyes went wide. He could see her fear, and he hated himself just a little for that. If he could leave the topic alone, he would. But his pack needed him to be strong and find this information. She deserved justice, even if it hurt her to give up the information.

  She inhaled deeply, “I don’t know.”

  She was lying. He could tell from the way her eyes flickered when she spoke. It pissed him off that she would lie to him, after everything he’d done, but he tried to put himself in her shoes. Giant powerful Vampire takes you, tortures you, and then you’re rescued by a giant fuzzy thing, and oh yeah, they want to know the information too. Made perfect sense, but his anger was rarely rational.

  Finn pitched his voice low and leaned in close to her, softening his voice, “Miah, I know you don’t want to talk about this shit. God knows, I know. But I need to understand, I need to know what you know. I have to protect my people.” He paused for a moment, fighting the urge to reach out and touch her, to brush an errant strand of hair back from her face, “I have to protect you. I will find Thaddeus, I will kill him, but I need to know everything.”

  Miah closed her eyes, and she looked absolutely miserable. “I’m sorry, Finn. I can’t. I’ll tell you as much as I can…but some of it…I just can’t…”

  He let out a quiet growl, but she didn’t even flinch. It would have to do, for now at least. He refused to force her to tell him anything. He wasn’t like Thaddeus.

  “All right, Miah. Just tell me what you can.” She glanced at the blanket, fingers picking at invisible threads. He added a tone of command to his voice, gentle, the voice he’d use with a young wolf, “Miah…”

  She glanced up at him, and he sighed, feeling his conscience squeezing his gut. Pushing her might hurt her more, and that was the last thing he wanted. She deserved gentle and loving after her ordeal, not cold and calculating. “Just tell me everything you can. The more I know, the better I can help you. Ok? But not right now. Soon, though.”

  His words gave her a moment of relaxation, and she smiled again nodding, her voice quiet. “Deal.”

  Finn rose, feeling conflicted. He had come in here to demand the woman give him all the information she had, allow her bone to be re-broken, and then promptly send her back to her family in the States. He was leaving with no information, and a desire to keep her as close to him as possible. Though she had consented to the break, a fact that still made him uneasy. Fuck, he didn’t want to have to do that to her. Thaddeus, yes. Her…never.

  “Hey, uh, Finn?”

  He turned, quirking a brow as he looked down at her. She flashed him a brave half-smile, “Can we do it now? The break thing. Before I lose my nerve.” She swallowed hard, and he found himself transfixed by her long, delicate neck, marred by a mess of bandages that hid the worst of the damage inflicted on her. “Please?”

  Finn nodded once, feeling sick to his stomach. He leaned over, his hand resting atop hers and squeezing gently, “Yeah. Yeah, of course. I’ll get Elise and a few of the boys to help. You’re sure you want to do it?”

  She nodded, a look of relief on her face. The girl might be many things, but she wasn’t a coward.

  And damn if he wasn’t looking forward to learning every little thing about her he could.

  Chapter 11

  Elise could feel her idiot brother talking to the girl, and it took every ounce of her being to not storm in there and tell him off, then and there. He had no business demanding information from her, and no business trying to force her to do anything. Miah had been through hell, and he of all people should understand that. But, of course, he’d failed to heed her warning about approaching her, and now he risked pushing her further away from them. Miah needed them now, she needed to be safe, and this was the safest place for all of them.

  She let out a grumpy sigh, and her husband Alec glanced over at her, quirking a brow. “Is Finn being an ass again?”

  Elise laughed and looked over at her husband, launching a pillow at his head, “Yes. Our dear Alpha is trying to drag the information out of her. Oh, after getting her to agree to us dealing with her leg. Tonight.”


  Alec winced at that, shaking his head, “I don’t suppose he ran that by her physician, did he?”

  “Nope.” Elise felt another twinge of annoyance. She had only joined the pack due to Finn’s insistence, and her desire to stay close to her family. As a young man, Finn had been a bit of a hothead, and she was often the only person who could get him to see reason. As an older man, he was still a bit of a hothead, but now he thought he could deal with every situation on his own. “She’s strong enough, but god, I just don’t want to have to put her through more pain.”

  “Elise, baby, it’s gotta happen.” Alec’s voice was soft and placating. He always knew how to make her feel better about things she didn’t want to do, “Miah is strong. You’ve said so yourself. The sooner we help her heal, the sooner she can go home.”

  The thought worried Elise. There was something about Miah’s situation that bothered her. The whole thing. Thaddeus never took women alive, let alone let them live for three months. Combined with the fact that she had even survived his gentle ministrations…there was more to the story. And she suspected Miah knew that, but she wasn’t going to open up with Finn being typical Alpha Male Werewolf at her.

  Then again, she’d felt Miah’s reaction when she saw Finn. The girl's heart had lightened, like she’d seen something beautiful for the first time. Then there was the way that Finn had refused to leave her bedside at first, holding Miah’s hand in his and murmuring to her quietly, calling her his Little Bird.

  Elise had a feeling that there was something between the two. Or there could be, if the idiot didn’t fuck it up. Well, big sister would just have to ensure her baby brother didn’t lose out on another chance for happiness. Even if the woman was a human. She didn’t care…nieces and nephews were far more important than laws.

  Alec watched her, quirking a brow. “You’re plotting, my love.”

  Elise grinned brightly, laughing, “I might be.”

  “This is gonna get ugly, isn’t it…”

  “Pfft. Have faith!”

  Elise, we need to take care of Miah’s leg tonight. She’s asked that we do so. Please attend me. Rory, Clint--I’ll need you there as well. We meet in her room in 10 minutes. Elise and Alec both went still as they listened to the message, broadcast across their entire pack. Alec looked at his wife and quirked a brow, “Her room?”

  Elise smirked, “Mm. Apparently, he’s forgotten he gave his own bedroom up for the girl.”

  Chapter 12

  She wasn’t looking forward to this. Ok, that was a hell of an understatement. She wanted nothing more than to hobble away as quickly as fucking possible, before the man who smelled like cinnamon and vanilla could break her leg again. The idea of her bones fracturing beneath his hands made her lungs constrict and her heart race. Christ, this was a bad idea.

  No, she just had to do it. Had to keep going. The faster she healed, the sooner she could leave.

  God, she hadn’t even called her family yet, though Elise had offered. She didn’t even know what to say to them. She had no idea how to explain all of it to them. That she was taken by Vampires who were searching for the original resting place of one of her family's greatest enemies. That she was rescued by Werewolves who thought she was completely ignorant to the darker side of the world. That she had utterly failed in her Seeking in Paris, in her quest to finally come into her power, the Seeking her parents had forbidden her to attempt.

  Miah bent her head as tears formed there, hanging unshed in her lashes. Perhaps it was better if they thought she was dead. She had been nothing but an embarrassment to her family, and they were better off without her. She had no touch of magic, nothing. And she had put them in jeopardy, to boot. If Marbok rose from the temporary bindings Carmina and Jackson had put into place, he could wipe out the Caprice line for good. And then he would turn to the rest of the witches in the world, and one by one, he would destroy them.

  She shuddered at the thought of the ravenger working with vampires. She’d tried to ply the information out of Thaddeus while he tortured her, but he had the knives and all she had were her screams. Shame, guilt, anger, and sorrow all fought for footing in her mind. She had fucked up, and this was all her own fault.

  Diving into the Shadowlands was dangerous for any Witch, but necessary when one wanted to attempt a Seeking; when one was attempting to awaken their power. Miah had wanted to try when she was younger, but her parents refused. After her older brother, Jonas, died when he was on his own Seeking at 17, her family had grown understandably more protective of their children. And that’s why she was here, at 20, attempting to do it on her own.

  Miah knew where the ritual failed. That moment where one slurred word shifted the energy of her shielding spell, and allowed Thaddeus to find her. Like a moth drawn to a light, the Vampire had followed her energy pattern. Touching her didn’t even bring her out of the Shadowlands, oh no, she was gone until it was already too late to try to escape. Manacled in a cage. She didn’t wake up until his fangs pierced her skin.

  Finn’s approach brought her out of her misery. She could feel him from the end of the hall, and his scent preceded him. Miah glanced up and gave him a brief smile, her eyes meeting his. It was a moment before she realized that he was flanked by two other men; an older man with salt-and-pepper hair and a dour face, and a man close to her own age with eyes that seemed to twinkle and dance. Both were built similarly to Finn, tall and broad, bodies rippled with muscles. She might not be a witch with any real power, but now that she was awake and healing, she could feel the energies of the world around her again; they were both werewolves. Great. A single powerless witch in a house full of werewolves.

  Elise stepped into the room behind her brother, and she seemed to be hiding a smile. Miah was almost surprised at that, but she could tell that Elise had something planned. Something devious. Miah gave her a smile; she liked Elise. A lot. And if she was planning mischief, then Miah wanted in on it.

  Finn cleared his throat, and Miah looked up at him. The smile from earlier was gone, his eyes dark and serious, his voice quiet, “You ready to do this, Miah?”

  Elise stepped forward, “I can give you something to dull the pain…”

  Miah shook her head viciously. To date, she’d refused most of the drugs Elise had offered. She wanted to be alert. Sometimes, she needed the fog of pills, but usually…she wanted to live with it. She needed to remember.

  Finn winced slightly and nodded once, glancing to the men on either side of him. “This is Rory and Clint.” He motioned to the younger man, and then the older. “Once I re-break it, we’re going to have to set it, and then put a cast on.” He hesitated for a moment, seeming to debate how much to tell her.

  Miah watched this, fascinated. They didn’t know that she knew they were werewolves. She understood. She knew she couldn’t go to a surgeon. Knew that when it was re=broken, they could try to use their powers to heal her. She also knew that Rory and Clint were there to help hold her down, so she didn’t fuck it all up again.

  From the look in Finn’s eyes, she suspected that maybe they were there for him as well. He looked haunted at the idea of hurting her. It was comforting to know that he didn’t want to do it, but was still willing to. Because she needed him to.

  He wanted her to refuse. He wanted her to push him away, because the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. The knowledge left her with an odd feeling in her chest.

  Finn stepped to the side of the bed, leaning in to speak softly to her. Miah leaned close to him, suddenly remember how nice it felt curled against his chest, how safe she had been with him. He placed a hand on either side of her, and she felt protected by his bulk.

  “Look, I’m not gonna lie, it’s gonna hurt. And it’s gonna bring back bad memories of what he did to you. And if we didn’t have to do this, I swear, we wouldn’t. But…”

  Miah smiled softly, reaching up a hand to gently touch his cheek. His eyes registered a look of surprise at the tender touch and she nodded, “I know. It’s ok. Just
…be as quick as you can.”

  Finn moved towards the foot of the bed, his eyes on her face for a long moment. He nodded once, and his packmates moved into position, each helping to hold her down from moving too much.

  Miah squeezed her eyes shut. She didn’t want to watch this. She didn’t want to be here. She wanted to scream at him to stop, to let her go, to take her to a real hospital for this…but the questions that would bring were more than she was willing to answer.

  Finn’s hands rested on her calf for a moment, and then her world shattered with a scream.

  Chapter 13

  He would never get used to the feel of bone snapping between his hands. This was the last place in the world he wanted to be, but he was the only one he trusted to do it. Even the thought of letting a mundane doctor do the deed filled him with fury.

  Miah’s scream, and the sudden jerk of her body sent a jolt through him. Fuck, the girl didn’t deserve that. His eyes moved up her body. She was pale and limp, and unconscious. Good. Maybe that was for the best. Damn her for not taking Elise’s drugs.

  “Finn.” His sister’s voice was quiet and gentle, the voice she used when she was treating an injured werewolf. “Rory and I will get it set. Help her stay calm, if she wakes up.”

  Finn removed his hands, the sound of the echoing crack filling his mind. He nodded once, putting a gruff look on his face as he stepped back towards the head of his bed. His packmates all exchanged looks, but he pretended not to notice. If he didn’t acknowledge that they were showing concern over his feelings for the girl, then he wouldn’t have to talk about it.

  Feelings? He didn’t know what it was, or how to put it into words, but he certainly cared for her. And there was no denying that they had a connection. Unfortunately, no matter how deep the connection might be, there wasn’t anything he could do about it. He wouldn’t act on whatever feelings might be bubbling beneath the surface, so it was best just to forget them. Squash them before they had a chance to take root.