I wanted to hear more about that, because I didn’t remember doing anything after I shifted. My lion had been in total control as he’d pushed me on my ass and took over. But I needed to know what Mena and Roel were talking about. Who was coming here to help me? I didn’t really need it. Surely the people poking and prodding around in my back would retrieve that bullet any second now. Hopefully it hadn’t left any lasting damage.
I pegged Slade with a hard stare and pointed to Mena again. I cleared my throat then croaked out, “Get her… here.”
Slade’s eyes popped wide as he said, “Oh, right. Sorry.”
Letting out a heavy breath, I sighed as I watched him interrupt Mena and Roel’s conversation. She didn’t look angry anymore, but I could tell she was still upset about something. I wondered if one of her pack members had gotten injured in the brawl.
Mena’s head bobbed, and then she turned her head to see me. With widening eyes, she rushed across the room and fell to her knees in front of me, taking my outstretched hand in hers. She was so warm, and it felt amazing just to touch her. “Ace, oh God, I thought you were dead—”
As Roel walked up to stand beside Mena, his phone started ringing in his hand. He put it to his ear, and said, “Are you here? Okay. I’m on my way out. Give me a minute.” He disconnected and looked down at Mena. “It’s your call, Mena. Ace doesn’t have long left.”
“Got it!” a guy shouted from behind me, and I felt instant relief as I heard the bullet hit the floor. There was still pain, but it was nothing like it had been.
“I’m… not dying,” I said in a weak voice. Was it getting colder in here? I was freezing. Could they not cover me up with a blanket or something, instead of letting everyone and their dog see what God gifted me with? My teeth began to chatter. “Bla-an-ket,” I stuttered through my teeth.
“You have three over you,” Slade said. “Do you want another?” His voice still sounded funny, and I didn’t like it. They got the bullet out. I was going to be fine. Right?
A dizzy spell hit me as my eyes moved to look down at my body for the first time. He was right. I was covered from shoulders to toes in gray wool. I shook my head. Or I think I tried. My thoughts and actions weren’t exactly on the same page for some reason.
“Mena?” Roel said.
I focused on her face as she glanced at the people over my shoulder. They were quiet. Too damn quiet.
“What… is it?” I chattered.
“Uh… I’m not sure, but it doesn’t look good. I think the silver may have gotten into his bloodstream. His back is beginning to look like a well-crafted spider’s web. It’s getting bigger by the second.”
Mena’s head whipped around to look up at Roel. “Get Phoenix in here now!”
I wasn’t sure what happened after that, because I blinked, but when I opened my eyes again, I was lying on my stomach and there were only about a dozen people in the room. Figuring that I had passed out again, I rolled my eyes over to see that Mena was crying as she talked to a man and a woman.
“Why are you doing this to me? Save him before he dies, Phoenix!”
Ice-blue eyes locked on mine, and that’s when I realized who this man was, and what he used to be to her. The Master Vampire of Montgomery my pride informed me about. Her boyfriend. Scratch that. Her ex-boyfriend.
“You know my terms, Lupacchiotto.”
Mena’s expression became enraged as her fingers curled into fists at her sides. “How do you expect me to be with you, knowing that I can’t stand the sight of you? You lied to me! You told my pack to lie to me! You betrayed me, Phoenix! And you tried to run my life for me. Never in my life had I felt so weak than when I was with you. You wanted to keep me safe and secure, but I needed to run and fly and BREATHE! I’m not fragile. I am a fucking Alpha! I don’t remember any of the training I did with Ace and his pride, but I’m pretty damn sure that if they hadn’t taught me so much in the three days I was with them, the slayers would have killed me. You owe me for everything you did to me, and you owe Ace for asking his best friend to strip him of his memories.”
Phoenix wanted her back. I couldn’t let her go back to him, not even if it meant I got to live. It would destroy me if I had to see her with him. I might as well be dead.
“Don’t…” I said, but nothing came out. Damn it! This dying shit was for the birds, not cats. Clearing my throat, yet again, I forced out the single word, “Don’t!” It still sounded weak as hell, but she’d heard me and turned her head to look at me.
Mena came over and knelt down beside me, taking my hand in hers again. I sighed at the contact. “You’re going to be okay, Ace—”
“Some dumb human heard the gunshots from earlier and called the cops,” Slade said as he appeared on the other side of Mena. “We only have minutes before we have a whole lot of humans in here getting in our business.”
Ignoring Slade, I focused on Mena’s beautiful face, and said, “Don’t go back…” I had to rest. My energy was depleted, extinguished, and I knew I was running out of time. I swallowed, but there was no moisture in my mouth. It felt like I had a mouthful of cotton balls in my throat. “Not for me.”
She turned her head and shouted, “Phoenix, please!”
Phoenix’s gaze settled on me, but I knew when he spoke, that he would be talking to her. “I asked Clay to erase your memories because you told me to do everything I could to make sure the bond got destroyed. I promised you I would. Only a day later, you were in love with him and didn’t remember the feelings you had for me. I was afraid after the bond was reversed that you would still remember loving him. You hated the bond, Mena. You hated needing his touch to live, but all too soon, you grew to love it… and him. I didn’t want you remembering him, but that’s not why I did it. I did it because I knew you wouldn’t want to remember loving him. You would be stuck in a constant tug-a-war with your heart for an eternity. You loved me first. The love you had for him was forced on you by the bond. It was unnatural. Was it so horrible of me to want to keep that suffering from you?” His eyes shifted to her then. “Can you fall out of love with me and leave me so easily?”
Mena’s chest expanded then deflated, and I could tell the fight was gone out of her.
“Just let me die,” I said, and my voice was surprisingly steady. “I know I don’t remember anything about you except the dreams, but that’s enough. I can’t watch you be with him, Mena. I won’t watch you be with him, knowing you aren’t happy and you only did it to save my life. Just… go. Get out. Everyone, get the fuck out of here and let me die in peace.” I felt a strange mix of defeat and resolution. It wasn’t the way I’d wanted to go, but then again, who really got to choose the circumstances of their death? At least she wouldn’t be stuck with an eternity of the blood sucker just because we’d loved each other once.
“No.” Mena stood and glared at Phoenix. “Save his life. There has to be some other form of payment. I would never be happy with you, knowing that you were forcing me to do it. Again, making my decisions for me. Tell me something else you want and I will do that.”
Phoenix shook his head and put his hands in his pockets. I was too weak to argue, but I did know that I wasn’t drinking any of his blood if it meant she would be in his bed tomorrow.
“You were my weakness, Mena, my soft spot,” Phoenix said, softly. “I do have one other option, but I warned you.”
“Warned me about what?” Mena spat.
Phoenix’s jaw tightened as he glared at her, his stare as cold as a glacier. “I warned you that if I ever fell in love with you and you left me I would turn into my father. Turns out I have more of that son of a bitch in me than I care to admit. I knew it was true when you cut me out of your life. The only good in me that I ever had, you took with you when you left me. I may be a selfish bastard, but if I can’t have you, then nobody will.”
“No,” I said, weakly.
“Ace!” Slade shouted, jumping into the convo, the chilly fear in his voice, clarifying how dire the situation
was. “Do this! Mena won’t have to be with him. Give him your word and take his blood. You’re running out of time here, man.”
Phoenix laughed. “Do you think I’m actually going to take his word that he won’t do anything with her? I’m nearly nine centuries old, Slade, and I’m far from stupid.”
“What do you plan to do, Phoenix?” Mena said, frustrated. “Are you going to kill me? Or do you plan to kill any man I choose to be with?”
Phoenix shook his head, a hint of mischief in his eyes. “You made your decision, baby. You don’t want me… I can live with that. But if I have to live another half a century without you, then you will have to suffer the same pain.” He reached into the front pocket of his jeans and pulled out two vials. One had a blue liquid in it, the other was clear. “If you have intercourse with anyone, Clay will be turned into a vampire. And just so you know,” he said as he shook the vials at Mena, “I already assumed you would turn me down. I am always prepared with a back-up plan.”
“What are those?” Mena asked, in a small voice that shook a little.
Phoenix’s lip twitched at one corner. “The blue is for you and the clear is for me. After we drink them, if you have intercourse, I will instantly know about it. That includes anything that can be inserted into that sweet pussy of yours, Mena. No fingers, tongues or cocks shall penetrate you for pleasure. Nothing. For the entirety of Clay’s mortal life, you will remain celibate.”
Mena gasped for breath and, I had to admit, I was having a little trouble getting in enough air after he dropped a bomb in the room in the form of forcing her to stay celibate for as long as my best friend lived. What the fuck?
Phoenix continued. “I won’t be the one to turn him if you fail, but everything is already set into motion. All the vampire needs is a phone call from me telling him that you have failed or news of my death, and,” Phoenix snapped his fingers, “just like that, Clay is a dweller of the night, with a brand new pair of fangs and a craving for something crimson and warm.”
I chuckled, and opened my mouth and spoke before I thought better of it. “Clay’s newest obsession is a vampire chick. I doubt he would even care. He would probably thank you.”
Phoenix’s eyebrows popped up. “You think so, eh? I talked to Clay about this very thing before I asked him to add the ingredient to erase your memories of each other. The vampire girl was in the room, and he couldn’t stop looking at her. I asked if he liked her. He said he did, but that she was a vampire and it would never work between them… that he would rather die than become one. I believe his exact words were, ‘I’d slit my fucking throat and bleed out before I would ever become one of you.’ Tell me, Ace. Do you want to gamble your best friend’s life on an assumption? Could you live with his suicide on your conscience?”
I felt the blood drain from my face, and I turned my head and stared up at the ceiling. He’d won. The motherfucker had found a chink in my armor and won the hand. I closed my eyes and felt a tear slide down and puddle inside my ear.
It wasn’t just me that Mena couldn’t be with. She couldn’t be with any male. If she did meet someone and had a weak moment before Clay grew old and died on his own, I would lose her and Clay. I would have to go through the rest of Clay’s life making sure she never let anyone touch her. It would destroy us both. I couldn’t do that to her.
I shook my head as I smiled wryly. “You know, I have a strong feeling that I hated you when I had my memories.”
“The feelings were mutual,” Phoenix said.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” Mena said, and then huffed in annoyance. “Fine. It’s done. I won’t be with Ace or anyone else. Now, save him!”
I heard Phoenix’s footfalls coming closer to me, but I didn’t want this. For one thing, I knew it was going to be impossible not to touch her. The beast in me had already staked a claim over her wolf. He wasn’t going to take ‘you can’t do that’ for an answer, not when it came to Mena. I was dying, and my lion still wanted her. I could feel his power coursing through my body, keeping me alive and encouraging me to take what the vampire offered in exchange for a life of pure hell. I knew exactly what I’d go through if I went through with this.
We were doomed to fail.
Something dripped on my lip, and I jerked my head away. “No! Get out—”
“Take it, Ace!” Slade shouted.
“I don’t want it. Get—”
All of a sudden, my chest felt like it was on fire and I started coughing. Curling up in the fetal position, I pressed the side of my face to the floor and coughed until I thought one of my lungs might come up from the strain, my muscles and bones tensing with each expulsion of air from my body’s airbags. I felt something thick in my mouth and spat a pool of red on the floor in front of my face.
“Hold him down,” Slade said, panicked, and then I felt several hands on my body, turning me to my back. I was helpless to respond.
Lazily, I shook my head. “No… Just let it happen.”
“Bullshit!” Slade said. “Get that wrist ready again, Vampire! We’re doing this. He may kick my ass tomorrow, but we are doing this tonight!”
Epilogue
One Week Later
Saturday, May 9th 2015 3:26 p.m. CST
Montgomery, Alabama
Mena
Mena knocked on the front door of the small house Roel rented, and waited.
“It’s unlocked!” Roel shouted from inside. “C’mon in!”
As she pushed the door open, she was greeted by the sound of Soundgarden blaring through Roel’s surround sound.
After he put a football and a set of coasters into a cardboard box, he lifted his head and gave her a small smile. He turned the volume down on the stereo. “Hey, Mena. You come to help me pack?”
She snickered. “Not likely. I have my own stuff to pack, but it’s still early. We don’t move to New Orleans for another four months.”
Roel shrugged as he walked to the kitchen counter where all his glassware had been taken down from the cabinets. “Yeah, I know. I’m just packing up some stuff for Goodwill and the Salvation Army. It’s crazy how much a person can accumulate in twelve and a half years. I’ll probably only take my clothes, and buy new stuff once we get there, not that I’m going to need much more than a bed and a dresser, since we will all be living together.”
Mena scrunched her nose as he filled two glasses with ice. “Are you mad about that?”
“I’m not glad about it,” he said, and she appreciated his honesty. He braced his palms on the counter and let his head fall between his locked arms. “I wish you had talked to me about everything, before you issued out those punishments. I’m your Beta, Mena. Don’t I get a say?”
“Not when you lie to me and I find out about it.” She shook her head. “I’m not here to fight with you. Yes, I agree that I should have talked to you in private before everyone showed up at my house that evening, but I had been through a lot that day, and I felt like all of you betrayed me. I’m sorry.”
He sighed as he pushed away from the counter and walked to her. Wrapping his arms around her shoulders, he kissed the top of her head as she hugged him back. “I’m sorry, too. We never should have kept that from you, but he made it sound like it was the right thing to do. I hate what he did to you in St. Louis, expecting you to go half a century or more without sex. I wanted to kill him. I still do.”
Mena huffed as she pulled out of his embrace. “Well, without men in my personal life, I’ll have more time to figure out this Alpha shifter stuff and get our pack organized. I’d like to be stronger as a group. We’re a bit scattered. That was where the idea of all of us living together stemmed from. Ace and most of his pride live together. It’s working for them. It wasn’t really meant to be a punishment. I was just angry when I said it.”
“Speaking of Ace—”
Mena put her hand up. “I don’t want to hear about how big of a jerk you think he is, Roel. He may be, but—”
“I wasn’t going to say th
at,” Roel said, and then frowned as he took two cokes from a 12-pack box and handed her one of them, with a glass of ice. He opened his can and started pouring before saying anything else. “Ace was a jerk when we first met him, Mena. We all regretted asking him to bond with you, and almost everybody’s fingers were pointing at me, since I was the one who found him. We didn’t really have a choice, though. You had asked Phoenix to kill you in the cage if we couldn’t figure out your name in time, and Ace was the only Alpha who agreed to even come meet you. After you and he bonded, he did a complete one-eighty. It was obvious that you were the only thing he cared about. If he was a jerk to anyone after that, it was Phoenix, but that was because Ace was bonded to you. But I noticed the other night that he hadn’t fully gone back to his old assholish ways, even after the bond was destroyed. I don’t think he’s a jerk. I’ve just been upset about losing Lea soon. It’s going to suck. It already does, and I still see her every day. We know it’s coming, though.”
“Did you talk to her about becoming—?”
Roel nodded. “She won’t leave Phoenix. After losing Jaxon, and then you, she thinks that if she leaves him, nobody will be there to stop him from walking out his front door at dawn. She’s torn, and it’s killing me to watch her go through this, knowing there is nothing I can do about it unless I transfer packs. I won’t do that. I love this pack, and I love you, Mena. I am honored to be your Beta. Neither of us blames you for what happened. Lea is furious with him, but she said he’s not budging on the negotiations he made with you.”
She took a drink of her soda, then looked around the room and sighed. “It doesn’t matter anyway. Ace isn’t receiving any of my calls or answering any of my texts. Slade says he’s healed and everything is fine. I guess he doesn’t want anything to do with me if he can’t have sex with me. Guess I should have seen that one coming. I’m better off alone. I have so much to do that I probably won’t even be able to stop and think about sex for the next fifty years anyway. Phoenix probably did me a favor.”
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