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  Michel laughed and caressed Becca’s cheek. “You wanted me.”

  “No,” Becca said, hating that her voice shook. Hating that even for a second it had been true. “Compulsion is not desire. Now please, walk me out of here. I’ve had enough games for one night.”

  “When you are ready to explore what you really desire, I’ll be waiting.”

  “If desire equals enslavement,” Becca said, her voice no longer shaking, “I will never let one of you bite me.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Drake clasped the back of Sylvan’s neck as they left the Council room. As long as she maintained physical contact with Sylvan, the burning pressure in her depths was tolerable. As to how she was going to survive being apart from her, she had no idea. But she had important things to do and couldn’t tangle every other minute, as much as she might want to drag Sylvan down and take her every time she looked at her. She wanted to get to the lab. The Revniks might have discovered something in her tissue samples to explain what was happening to her. She wanted to check on Lara and the human in the infirmary. She wanted to stop the god-awful need raging through her system, but most of all, she needed to see that Sylvan was well.

  “You’re still worrying,” Sylvan murmured.

  “I’m loving you, not worrying,” Drake said, pushing open the great double doors of the Hall.

  When Sylvan would have leapt to the ground, Drake stopped her at the top of the stone steps. While they’d been inside, the sun had broken through the clouds over the mountains, a golden saber scattering the fading armies of the dawn. The sky was so crystalline, the air so clear, she scarcely believed the dark violence of the last few days could exist in the face of such beauty. But she had only to remember the bullet wounds in Sylvan’s chest to know nothing was safe from hatred and ignorance. “Let’s run, Alpha.”

  Sylvan smiled and wrapped her arm around Drake’s waist. “Do you think of me that way?”

  The centuri and sentries streamed around them and down into the yard, drifting far enough away to give them privacy but not letting them out of their sight. Drake rumbled. She’d have thought the guards would at least leave Sylvan in her care while inside the walls of the Compound. She supposed she’d have to get used to that—never being completely alone with her mate. Part of her resisted, even though she understood the reasons for it. Sylvan was more than her mate, and she would never completely own her. Sylvan owned her, but she would always have to share. She rumbled again, and heat poured down her body like liquid fire. Her body demanded she run or mate, but Sylvan needed to heal.

  “You’re wrong.” Sylvan brushed her fingertips over Drake’s cheek. “I do belong to you, only to you. In my heart. In the deepest part of me.”

  “How did you know?” Drake yanked off her sweat-soaked T-shirt and tossed it onto a low wooden bench next to the railing. She flipped open the top button of her jeans, her belly tightening as Sylvan’s gaze raked over her chest and down her torso. “Can you read my mind?”

  “No, not exactly. But I can feel your thoughts in my head. Not the words exactly, but the sense of them. I know when you question what you mean to me.” Sylvan pushed her jeans down. She’d been shirtless all morning and now she was gloriously nude.

  Drake’s throat went dry and she readied. “You’re so beautiful, Sylvan.”

  “No more than any of my wolves,” Sylvan murmured. Silver streamed down the center of her abdomen and pulsed beneath her skin. The claw marks on her flanks and her shoulders still pulsed an angry red. They shouldn’t be there. Weres healed at an enormously accelerated rate, but the poison coursing through Sylvan’s bloodstream weakened her.

  Sylvan was not indestructible. She could have died. Drake’s head pounded with fear and fury. The bones in her face slid and thickened. Her canines and fingertips throbbed. Her skin vibrated with the rush of pelt beneath the dermis. “You’re about to shift. So am I. It’s time, love.”

  “Can you wait? I scent your need.”

  Drake smiled and rasped her claws down the center of Sylvan’s body, lightly grazing her sex. “Run first. Then we’ll tangle.”

  Sylvan’s eyes flashed gold, and she threw her head back and howled, a deep, soul-shaking cry that carried into the forests and struck at the heart of every wolf in the territory. Drake’s wolf answered Sylvan’s call instantly, and she shifted. She vaulted off the porch a second behind Sylvan’s great silver wolf, landing beside her at the far edge of the cleared area. They streaked past the centuri, who shimmered in mid-shift, and plunged into the dense evergreens that grew uninterrupted right up to the borders of the Compound proper. The narrow path through the thick undergrowth glimmered in swaths of gold and black and green. Sunlight angled in broad glittering shafts through the dense canopy. Pine needles and decaying leaves and patches of rich loam cushioned her pads as she loped. Her nostrils filled with the heavy scent of life—moss on the trees, verdant and rich; mushrooms, pungent and sharp; the musk of deer; the gamey odor of fox and bear. Her blood pumped hard, her muscles bunched and stretched, driving her forward. And by her side, Sylvan. Always and only Sylvan.

  The air pulsed with Sylvan’s unique scent, coating the inside of Drake’s mouth, her tongue, her nostrils with the substance that defined her mate. Their hormones meshed and melded—accelerating her heart rate, stimulating her nerve endings, flooding her glands. They were connected, joined, united in body and soul. They ran together, separate bodies, a single heart.

  Sylvan brushed against Drake’s right shoulder, and a wash of power broke over her. She whined as the urge to mate struck her hard. Sylvan nipped the air in front of her nose, and for the first time since Sylvan had been injured, Drake relaxed. Her mate was healing.

  The centuri trailed them through the forest, Jace and Jonathan to their left, Max and Andrew to the right. Now, running as wolf, Drake understood in her bones what she’d resented earlier. If she somehow failed to protect the Alpha, the others would be there to take her place. The centuri, the sentries, the entire Pack, would be certain that nothing happened to Sylvan. With Sylvan secure, the Pack would be safe. As was right. But in this moment, Sylvan was all hers.

  Growling, Drake grabbed Sylvan’s ruff and shook her. Sylvan lifted her lip, and a deep rumble rose from her chest.

  Drake snapped in her face and danced circles around her. Catch me, mate?

  Sylvan bit at her shoulder, her canines just grazing the muscle. Drake veered away and then rushed back, bumping Sylvan hard, almost throwing her off stride. Sylvan growled and, with a quick twist of her powerful shoulders, clamped her jaws around Drake’s muzzle, closing down until Drake whined. Drake panted and stared into Sylvan’s glittering eyes. Drake dropped her head, and Sylvan relaxed her grip. Quickly, Drake shook her off and went back to taunting her, running a few paces away, then swiftly swinging back to charge at her, jaws snapping.

  Sylvan’s eyes glinted, and she lunged at Drake with a full-throated growl, lips pulled back, teeth exposed. Drake vaulted over her and sent her challenge.

  If you want me, catch me.

  Drake barreled into the underbrush, and Sylvan gave chase. Nose to the ground, heart pounding joyfully, Drake led her mate deeper off the path. Blood hammered in her veins, in her belly, in her loins, and she ran by instinct, drawing her mate to safety in the shelter of the primeval forest.

  Marissa moaned and opened her eyes. “Jody?”

  Sophia hurried to the side of the stretcher and rested her hand on the human’s shoulder. “You’re in the Compound infirmary. You’re all right.”

  Marissa’s unfocused gaze wavered between confusion and alarm. “Who are you?”

  “My name is Sophia Revnik. I’m a Were medic.”

  “What happened?” Marissa lifted one arm, examining the intravenous line taped to her wrist. “What are you giving me?”

  “Just saline. We weren’t sure what else you might need.”

  Elena approached the other side of the stretcher. “Hi, I’m Elena. How do you feel?”
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  “Tired.” Marissa’s dark brows drew down. “Otherwise, all right. I’ve never required any kind of medical attention before. Why did—Jody!” She struggled to sit up. “Is Jody all right? Where is she?”

  “She’s nearby,” Sophia said quickly. “She’s being protected. Don’t worry.”

  “What about Lara?” Marissa’s eyes widened and her breathing grew short and choppy. “Is Lara with her?”

  “Yes. They’re both…sleeping, I guess.” Sophia glanced at Elena. “We’re not really sure what condition they’re in right now. We’ve never had a Vampire here. Or a Were in Lara’s situation.”

  “I need to be with them,” Marissa said anxiously. “If Lara awakens, she’ll need to feed. Jody will too. She wouldn’t let me host for her during the night, and I could see she needed it.”

  She reached for the IV as if to take it out, but Sophia stopped her. “Your vital signs are still low. You need more fluid. And rest.”

  Marissa shook her head. “Please. I should be with them. They’ll both need me.”

  Sophia’s chest tightened. “Niki is with them.”

  “Niki?” Marissa looked from Elena to Sophia questioningly. “God, I don’t remember much of what happened last night. That’s not normal either.” She sank back on the stretcher, her face pale and her forehead beaded with sweat. “Niki. I don’t know her. I thought I knew all of Jody’s blood servants.”

  “Niki is one of us,” Sophia said, trying not to think about what blood servant meant. “She volunteered to take care of whatever Jody or Lara might need.”

  “Weres are very strong,” Marissa said, and her voice carried more than a little envy. “The Vampires often prefer them as servants. Jody doesn’t usually, but…” She sighed. “Who knows what’s happening now that she has Lara to protect.”

  “Well,” Elena said briskly, “you are in no condition to host anyone. Unlike us, you’re not going to replenish your blood stores very quickly. You should not host again anytime soon.”

  “I know. I know, but I’m not sure…” Marissa looked away. “Thank you for all your help.”

  “Of course.” Elena adjusted the IV drip. “Try to get some more sleep.”

  Marissa sighed. “Yes, but when Jody wakes up—you’ll tell me?”

  “Of course,” Elena said.

  Sophia followed Elena to the far side of the room. She folded her arms across her chest, as if that would somehow lessen the ache deep inside. “She seems all right.”

  “I think she will be,” Elena said, “if she doesn’t host again right away.”

  “She seems to want to,” Sophia said.

  “I’m not sure if she wants to as much as she needs to,” Elena said. “Whatever happens when the Vampires feed, it appears to be addicting. At least with humans.”

  “Yes.” Sophia imagined Niki tangling with Lara and Jody. Giving them her blood. A rumble started between her breasts and forced its way through her chest, vibrating in her throat. She quickly turned away, hoping Elena had not noticed. She had no reason to be threatened or angry. Niki had gone with the Vampires willingly, and she’d made the right choice. The entire Pack was in Jody’s debt for what she’d done for Lara. Now both Jody and Lara needed care and protection. They needed to feed, and Niki had offered herself. Sophia knew Niki tangled with other females frequently. Why shouldn’t she? She was an unmated dominant female and often in the Alpha’s company, either running with her or fighting with her. Niki absorbed the Alpha’s call even more than the rest of them, and she needed to release. That was only natural.

  But this, this was different. The Vampire was not Pack. Sophia couldn’t help but think that Niki’s offer of her body was driven more by pleasure than duty. Her canines throbbed, and her vision shimmered to wolf. She’d never reacted this way before when she knew Niki was with a female! Breathing hard, she busied herself restocking supplies.

  “Why don’t you take a break,” Elena said.

  “I’m all right.”

  “You’re agitated and restless. You’re acting like you could use a good tangle.”

  “Couldn’t you?” Sophia laughed shortly. “You must have felt the Alpha’s call a little while ago.” She rubbed her arms. Her skin was prickling. She usually had very good control over her shifts, just as she could suppress her need to tangle after years of practice. All of her control seemed tenuous today.

  “Oh, I felt it.” Elena’s eyes glinted with humor. “It’s a good thing I’m mated or you might be in trouble.”

  Sophia smiled. “You know very well if you didn’t have Roger, you’d be looking for some other male, not to me.”

  “I wasn’t an adolescent all that long ago. I still remember how much fun tussling with some of the females can be.” Elena lifted a box of intravenous bags onto the counter and started passing them to Sophia to stack on the overhead shelves. “The Alpha is breeding. We’re all going to be frenzied for a while.”

  “It’s only going to get worse the closer we get to moon hunt, if the Prima doesn’t conceive. She might not.” Sophia’s hands shook. Something was wrong with her, something more than the hyperagitated state of the Pack with the Alpha in breeding frenzy.

  “So far,” Elena said, “there’s nothing to mark the Prima as any different from a regii. You’ve seen how fast she shifts. And she can partial shift, just like the Alpha. I sensed her telepathic link as soon as she turned.” Elena glanced across the room toward the human on the stretcher. “She’s as much Were as any of us. Maybe she will conceive.”

  “I hope she does,” Sophia said softly. “She and the Alpha are mated. It’s only natural for them to want offspring.”

  “That’s what all Were mates want. Offspring to strengthen the Pack.”

  Sophia’s throat tightened around tears. “Yes. Every Were wants to give her mate that.”

  Niki paced the perimeter of the dark room. The Alpha was running, and she wasn’t with her. Sylvan’s call had pulled her from an uneasy slumber, and now she was edgy and barely able to contain her wolf. Her belly hurt, her sex throbbed, and she wanted to fight. Or fuck. She was the Alpha’s imperator and leader of the centuri. She always ran with the Alpha. Her role, her duty, had been at Sylvan’s side since she was born. Sylvan was gathering her wolves to her for the fight that was coming. She was breeding her mate. Niki’s body responded instinctively—her blood ran with battle lust and sex frenzy. She needed release. Rumbling steadily, she paced.

  “Little Wolf,” Jody said quietly. “Lara will sleep until sundown. You don’t need to stay.”

  Snarling, Niki spun around. “What about you, Vampire? You’re awake.”

  “I’m pre-animate. I can’t function well during daylight, but I’ll rouse if there’s danger.” Jody, naked except for her unbuttoned, rumpled white shirt, pushed herself up against the wall. Lara lay curled against her side, and Jody threaded her fingers through Lara’s hair. “Her system is in shock. Eventually her body will adapt to the solar fluctuations, and she’ll be able to protect herself. Right now, she’s comatose.”

  “And helpless.”

  “No,” Jody said, trailing her fingers over Lara’s chest. “I’m here to protect her.”

  “You were so weak a few hours ago you couldn’t have protected anyone.”

  “Yes, but you took care of that, didn’t you? With my mouth at your neck.”

  Niki stalked to the bed, her canines extended. “I could kill you right now if I wanted.”

  “Could you?” Jody’s body was relaxed and her face softer than Niki had ever seen it. She held out her hand. “That’s not what you want, is it?”

  A curtain of red shuddered behind Jody’s dark eyes, and Niki’s nipples tightened. Her pelt line flared and her clitoris erected. The Alpha’s call still echoed through her blood, and she panted with need.

  “Come to me,” Jody murmured, and Niki bounded onto the bed. She straddled Jody’s waist, rubbing her center against Jody’s stomach. Her guts flamed and she whined softly.


  “You taste like the forest, Wolf.” Jody pulled Niki’s head down and ran her tongue over Niki’s mouth, the razor edge of her incisors scoring a line on the inside of Niki’s lip. Niki tasted her own blood, and her clitoris pulsed.

  “Do it,” Niki growled, the pounding in her loins driving her mad. “Do it, Vampire. Drink me.”

  Jody struck, swift and deep. Niki arched, fire blazing a trail from her throat through her chest and deep into her belly. Jody’s hips thrust slowly with each rush of blood through her veins. Niki howled, pain blossomed into a wave of unbearable pleasure, and she released on Jody’s stomach.

  Jody injected a flood of hormones into Niki’s jugular. Rest now, Wolf.

  Then Niki was running, paws pounding through the forest, the wind in her ruff, the scent of Sylvan in her mouth. Whimpering softly, she surrendered to the Vampire’s embrace.

  Chapter Twelve

  A warm breeze brushed the back of Sylvan’s neck. Pine needles cushioned her naked body, and she smelled life teeming in the soil beneath her cheek. Sunlight warmed her hip. She filled her lungs with pure mountain air, and her body pulsed with energy and strength.

  The wind on her neck became a kiss. Fingers skimmed her stomach and cupped her breast.

  “You’re awake.” Drake’s deep voice was warmer than the sun. The heat of Drake’s body curled against her back was as comforting as the sense of Pack she’d carried with her all her life. When she’d been lonely or afraid, she’d drawn the Pack around her like a shield. Now Drake was Pack, Drake was her shield. She quickened, her blood tingling.

  “Very awake.” Sylvan pushed her ass into the curve of Drake’s belly. “Did you sleep?”

  Drake rubbed her cheek over Sylvan’s shoulder. “A little.”