“Keira!”
Her head jerked at Ryan’s bellow. The werewolves were holding him back. Had the guy tried to lunge forward and stop the claiming?
Yes.
Zoe still stood in front of him. She was frowning up at Ryan. “Dumb, Drac, dumb.”
“Don’t do this!” Ryan yelled at Jane. “Don’t trade your life again. Don’t do it for me!”
She hadn’t. Jane shook her head. “I did this for me.”
Then she was being lifted up in Alerac’s arms. He carried her into the main house. Before he crossed that threshold, he glanced back. “Zoe, keep the male vampire alive.”
Zoe nodded.
Alerac glanced over at the rest of his pack. “Liam is banished. If you see him, take the bastard down. He will not hurt this pack again. Search the woods. Protect the borders. Do not turn your back on him.”
Their faces were grim. Jane realized that they were all going to be hunting Liam now. He’d been a brother to them one moment, then a traitor the next.
Why? Alerac had trusted him. She was pretty sure Alerac had loved him.
As had the others.
Now there would be no room for love.
Only death.
Alerac turned from the assembled wolves. He carried her inside, and he shut the rest of the world.
***
“I guess that makes you think she’s less,” the small female said as she glared up at Ryan, “because your sister just tied herself to a vampire.”
Ryan barred his fangs at her. Her scent…He shook his head, feeling a little drunk. Maybe that was just fury making him feel that way. Four werewolves were holding him in place—two on each side of him. If it hadn’t been for their cutting grip, he would have rushed up and stopped Alerac long before the alpha claimed Keira.
“It was her choice,” the woman continued. Her skin was the most delectable shade of dark cream that he’d ever seen. “Let it be, and you’ll both be under pack protection.”
Right. Like he gave a damn about that. “The same pack that attacked her just an hour ago?” He was tired of those SOBs holding him. His fangs were ready to rip and tear.
“Don’t.”
He frowned at her.
She shook her head. Then she pointed to the werewolves. “Let him go. I’ll watch the vamp.”
They let him go. Just like that.
The other werewolves were all backing away. The show was over, so they were gone? Forget that.
He stalked toward the main house’s entrance.
“You don’t want to interrupt him right now.” She sighed and said, “Whether you’re her brother or not, Alerac might just take your head if you interrupt the bonding ceremony.”
Ryan halted. “I can take Alerac.”
“Why? Because you’re an ancient vampire?” She rolled her dark eyes. “Big deal. Alerac has killed plenty of those.”
Yes, he had.
“You know he’s not just a werewolf. Not anymore. Not thanks to her.”
His sister had changed Alerac. That change made the alpha even more dangerous.
He turned his head. Found his gaze sliding right back to the woman. She was small and delicate, when werewolves were normally built along much harder, tougher lines. Her dark eyes were wide, almond shaped, and her full lips were set determinedly.
“Who are you?” Ryan demanded as he studied her. She looked young, barely twenty-five, but werewolves and their ages could be deceptive.
Not as deceptive as a vampire’s age of course but…
“Zoe.”
He lifted a brow.
“He won’t hurt her. You know he can’t.” She glanced toward the sky. “The sun’s rising soon. You need to get to shelter.”
Shelter wasn’t what he needed. “Keira is being hunted.”
Zoe gave a little shrug as she headed away from him. “I think she calls herself Jane now.”
He stared after her.
“Sunlight makes you weak, right? I wouldn’t think you’d want the others to see you that way.” She looked over her shoulder. “No one is letting you leave, by the way. So you can come willingly with me, or one of those guys—” She pointed toward the wolves who lingered near the edge of the woods. “Those guys will just lock you up until Alerac is ready to deal with you.”
Deal with—
“He said we couldn’t kill you, not that we couldn’t hurt you.” She wasn’t looking at him any longer. “After the pain vampires have inflicted on this pack, there are plenty of werewolves looking for some payback.”
“I’m not afraid of some mangy wolves.”
The words were barely out of his mouth before he found claws at his throat. Her claws. “Maybe you should be,” Zoe snapped.
He smiled at her—and knocked those claws away. In the next breath, she was trapped in his arms, and his teeth were inches from her throat. Her scent—so heady, so tempting—dared him to take a bite.
But when he looked up, he saw the wolves circling in on him.
Ryan let her go. Except…he didn’t want to.
He wanted to bite.
He locked his teeth. “I’ll stay with you for today. You keep your claws off me, and I’ll keep my teeth out of you.”
Maybe. He’d try.
She was just…tempting.
“Do we have a deal?” Ryan pushed.
She smiled at him. The woman actually flashed dimples as she said, “I don’t make deals with vampires.”
He didn’t usually want to f**k werewolves.
“But I think we can avoid killing each other until nightfall.”
Sounded like a plan.
He followed her away from the main house, enjoying the sway of her ass. A very nice ass, one that was encased in tight jeans.
“Are you this fierce when you shift into a beast?” Ryan asked her, curious. Because if she was, the woman would be one dangerous killing machine.
She stopped at the door of a two-story cabin, one with a row of flowers growing on its side. Pain flickered over her face. “No, I’m not.”
“I don’t know if I believe that.”
Her gaze slashed up to meet his. “Believe it. What you see is what you get.” Zoe swallowed. “I don’t shift. I can’t.”
A werewolf who couldn’t shift? He stared after her, and he felt shame. Shame that he’d attacked her. Shame that he’d made her hurt and—
“Get your ass in here, Drac, before you burn.”
He got his ass in that cabin.
***
Heath stared at the pool of blood on the floor. His blood. Just inches from his face.