Captivated (Deep in Your Veins 6)

I inwardly snorted. Maya wasn’t really with Coop. Not even close.

“Because if that shag was fuelled by nothing but jealousy, you were a total wanker to seek her out.”

Oh, there had been jealousy all right. It was an emotion I hadn’t been familiar with until Maya. But I hadn’t fucked her merely because the green-eyed monster had made an appearance. I’d taken her because I needed it. Needed to have her just once more. I’d told myself I’d keep my hands off her after that.

I’d lied.

More, I’d known I was lying to myself.

“And if you’re hoping to come between them just because you don’t want to see her with someone else, you need to sort your shit out,” Sam added.

I honestly didn’t feel a need to ‘come between’ Maya and Coop. Although I hated seeing them together, I didn’t feel whatsoever threatened by him. For one thing, the man really was not her type. For another, they weren’t exclusive, so it couldn’t be serious. Thirdly, they hadn’t slept together—something I’d learned from Chico after his mate, Jude, gave up the info while drunk. Really, Coop was more Maya’s walk on the not-so-wild side. He was also heavily into Arlo—anyone could see that.

Sam sighed when I remained silent. “You’re really going to be tight-lipped about all this?”

Again, I didn’t answer. Which was an answer in and of itself.

She huffed. “Fine. But don’t hurt her, Ryder. Maya … she’s a hard-arse for sure, but she’s all soft and squishy deep down. I’m not ordering you to stay away from her. I’m saying that if all you want is sex, you need to be crystal clear about it. Make sure she knows where she stands to avoid any future issues. Not just for her sake, but for yours. Because you won’t get a second chance, Ryder. Maya doesn’t hold grudges, but she also doesn’t give people an extra opportunity to hurt her. She will cut you out in a heartbeat if you fuck her over. So don’t fuck her over.”

That was something I’d never do, but I still said nothing. This shit was between me and Maya.

Right then, Jared materialised. “So, when are we starting the process of scanning minds?”

“No time like the present.” Sam arched a brow at me. “You need a little longer to recover before we bring in more people?”

I shook my head.

Sam gave a satisfied nod. “Good. Let’s start with the legion, then.”

(Maya)

In my jaguar form, I stared down at the corpse of yet another dead animal. Me and my squad had found several, and all had been savagely attacked, just like the humans. The kills were too fresh to be from the leopard. Something else had slaughtered them. I couldn’t say what kind of beast, though.

“Whoever decided to trap animals in a state of bloodlust has one hell of a sadistic streak,” said Jude. “I mean, this shit is not only cruel through and through, it’s senseless.”

Paige made a sound of agreement. “It would be one thing if the vampire was hoping to use the animals for protection or something, but to infect and then abandon them—leaving them crazed and putting all these other animals at risk … there’s nothing to achieve by doing any of this.”

Looking up at Alora, I sent mental images to her—images of us walking, hunting.

She nodded at me and then turned to the others. “Maya wants us to keep moving. We have to find whatever did this and, sadly, put them out of their misery.”

We continued our hunt, finding more and more brutally attacked bodies. My stomach churned when we came upon dead cheetah cubs, and I couldn’t help but let out a sound of distress.

“I know, sweetie,” said Alora, all choked up. “I know.”

We’d only been walking a few more minutes when we heard godawful howling and screechy growls, like two animals fighting. We all took off, tearing through the trees as we followed the sounds. Soon, we came upon a black monkey and a wild boar brawling. No, not brawling. The primate was doing its best to ravage the boar, moving much too fast for an average animal.

“Imani, can you help?” asked Keeley.

“No,” replied Imani. “The monkey doesn’t have a blood-link to whoever did this.”

“I can’t control its mind to make it stop,” said Cassie. “It’s too crazed, there’s no rationality there, no thought patterns. Just a red haze.”

“Which is the same reason I can’t communicate with it,” said Alora.

Ava rolled back her shoulders. “Looks like we’ll have to take it down the good old fashioned way, then.” She whistled loud.

The animals broke apart, their heads whipping to face us. The boar fled, just like any animal in its right mind would do. Not the primate. It glared our way, its irises glowing red, its face a mask of feral rage. Blood matted its black fur and coated the teeth it bared.