“Once you taste the blood, it’ll drive you wild. You’ll do anything to get more. You’ll drain humans, one after the other, and leave their bodies in your wake.”
His promise to her, right after he’d turned her. He’d leaned close, pressed a kiss to her cheek and said, “Then you’ll be just like me.”
Never.
Drake had dropped Malcolm. The vamp lay sprawled on the floor while her werewolf stared at her with a face gone white. No, he shouldn’t be like this. She hadn’t ever wanted him to know all the secrets she carried.
“Paige…” Her name was a ragged sound of pain, torn from Drake.
And Malcolm–his eyes were on her. On her, then Drake. No, not just on Drake…on his neck.
Malcolm’s smile said he knew what she’d done.
After resisting for so long, she’d broken down and taken blood from a live source, from him. The one who mattered the most.
“Guess I am a monster,” she told Malcolm, then she lunged forward. No one tried to stop her. They couldn’t. She was too fast then.
In an instant, she had the stake out.
And Malcolm was attacking, too. Not an attack at her, but one aimed at Drake.
He was distracting you. She’d tried to warn him, but Drake had been too busy listening to Malcolm’s twisted tale. The vamp slashed out with his claws, going for Drake’s back.
Only she got to Malcolm first. Paige shoved the stake into his chest. “Go to hell, bastard,” she snarled. He’d sure done his best to drag her there and–
Malcolm ripped the stake right out of his chest. “Missed…heart…bitch…”
Oh, crap.
“I won’t miss,” Drake promised as he yanked her back. Then he attacked, slamming his body into Malcolm’s. And, no, he didn’t miss because one powerful swipe of the razor sharp claws that sprang from Drake’s fingers–well, one swipe took Malcolm’s head.
And the vampire went to hell.
The silence in the room was deafening then. All the wolves stood, as still as statues, watching her. Waiting.
After one glance, she didn’t look at Malcolm again. Her stomach was twisting, her hands shaking. She wanted the nightmare to just end, but for her and for Drake, the end was still too far away. The nightmare wouldn’t stop, not yet.
Not until Gabe was the one on the floor, stone dead.
She should say something. Anything. But…
Her shoulders hunched as Paige turned away. The scent of blood seemed to burn her nostrils, and she just needed to get out of there.
Away from the blood and death. Escape. She hadn’t known real freedom in so long, and she was so tired of being surrounded by death.
Constantly.
Paige shoved the shifters out of her way. Drake called out to her. She didn’t glance back, and she sure as hell didn’t stop. She’d talk with him–later.
Not now.
I wasn’t at the lake.
Her words had been so hollow because, yes, she’d been at Lost Lake. She’d kept her promise to Drake.
And that promise had cost Paige far more than she’d ever expected–her life.
Chapter Six
She damn well wasn’t getting away from him.
Paige had fled the compound and raced away into the night. Sure, he could have gotten his men to track her, but this hunt was personal, and Drake didn’t want the others chasing her.
If someone hunted Paige, it would be him.
“You can’t do this!” Heath grabbed him just as Drake was about to pass through the compound’ heavy gates. His eyes blazed with fury. “This could be a vamp trap! She’s luring you outside.”
Paige hadn’t gone through the gates. She’d just leapt over the wall. So fast and graceful. His blood had sure pumped up her power.
As for her bite…it had given him so much pleasure. I’ll have more. If she needed blood, he’d be happy to be her personal donor from now on.
Her first, her only.
“She’s hurting,” Drake said and pain, yeah, that was just what he’d seen in Paige’s eyes. She’d always shown so much with her green gaze. He’d once been able to look right into her eyes and see her soul.
Heath actually shook him. “She’s in pain? Fine. Then let her go off and lick her damn wounds.” Heath’s words held a sharp bite. “But don’t put yourself at risk for her. She’s a vampire.”
The necklace he’d given to her so long ago, the one he’d stupidly taken from her neck just the previous night, was a heavy weight in Drake’s pocket. Give it back to her. “She’s mine.” There wasn’t anything else to say.
She was his. And she hurt.
Protect her. An instinct from the wolf and the man.
He looked beyond the wall. So much darkness and icy cold waited for him. But that frigid darkness had been his whole life, ever since Paige had left him.
He wanted more now. He wanted warmth. Light. Paige had always been that to him.
“I’m bringing her back.” Drake shoved the other wolf aside.
Heath grabbed his arm. “You can’t bring a vampire into the pack.” Low words. Gritted. Burning with intensity. “You know you can’t do that.”
Very, very slowly, Drake turned his head and stared down at his first in command. He’d been friends with Heath since they were both just boys, but that friendship wouldn’t stop him from kicking the shit out of the guy. “I’m the f**king alpha.” He let the power ring in his voice. He’d fought for the title. Earned it. And since he was alpha, the one they all submitted to… “I can do anything I want.”
“Jeremiah–”
Had that bastard really gone after Paige? Set this whole nightmare in motion? His jaw ached as Drake growled, “He’s dead.” A very lucky thing for the old wolf right then. Because if he’d still been living, Drake would have ripped him apart. “It’s my pack now.” If Heath wanted to challenge him…
Come the hell on.
He was more than in the mood for some ass-kicking.
After he brought Paige back. He had his priorities, and she came first. “Spread the word,” Drake ordered. “Any who want to challenge me…tell them to get the f**k in line.” When he came back, he’d take them all on.
Because no one was going to keep him from Paige. Not now.
Not ever.
He turned away from Heath and ran into the night. Vampires were fast, but wolves were faster. Especially when they hunted.
He shed the form of man with a crack and snap of his bones. The pain of the shift burned over him, familiar, white-hot, and soon he was running on all fours, with paws instead of hands, and he tossed back his head and howled for the one thing he wanted most in the world.