Chapter 2 – Violet
Chapter Two
Violet
It might be taking the easy way out, but I find Greer and beg her to send me home for the night. She’s bonded to the owners, so she’s basically my boss. She says she’ll take over my table, which is probably safer.
Novak, Reign, and Seiran watch her like a hawk whenever she’s out on the floor. There’s no way anyone will mess with her, at least not if they want to keep their head.
My stomach is rumbly and empty, but it would be a bad look to hang around, searching for someone to feed from. Especially with the whole asking to leave early thing.
I’m fairly sure Fergus will find me at some point tonight. That elven mage is more delicious than any other food source I’ve ever tasted, which is part of the problem.
I’m a little worried that I’m growing too accustomed to having his blood. The level of magic he possesses is extreme, and the more potent the blood, the higher the risk of a vampire growing addicted to it.
Not to mention, there’s a whole thing about our venom being addictive in return.
We have to be careful when feeding from those who aren’t our mate, because they can develop a dependency to our venom.
It’s a blissful feeling that mimics a few of the party drugs humans can develop a fondness for.
Except a vampire’s venom is more potent and can also cause sexual euphoria.
All of that means I should be looking for other food sources in Black Cove, but my stomach feels weird when I even think of feeding off someone who isn’t Fergus.
That’s a bad sign.
Tonight just isn’t the right time for me to undertake that endeavor, especially when I bailed on my shift.
It’s time I head back to Greer’s house, get into my pajamas, and watch terrible reality TV.
Dammit.
I really miss Hazel.
There’s a corridor of storage rooms and employees-only areas that connects all three businesses. The back of said corridor has the main employee exits leading to the alleyway that spills into the employee parking lot.
I have a car, but I left it back in Haven since it was easier for Wraith to siphon me to Black Cove. It’s one ability that I would kill to have. When you can teleport from one place to another, you don’t waste any time in transit.
I stand in the alleyway, ignoring the putrid smell of the dumpsters as I pretend to be busy on my phone.
It’s actually rather pathetic, but Fergus has been known to find me here.
I give it a few minutes, but the sexy elven mage must be busy in Rut. Ever since Hazel and her mates left, Seiran has had to take back over fueling the sex club portion of the business.
Fergus isn’t an incubus, but he does have sex magic that can help in a pinch. It’s not quite as intoxicating as an incubus’s magic. Though no one complains if it’s the only thing available.
Either way, he’s obviously busy, and I’m not interested in standing around in the cold any longer… He very well might catch up with me on my walk across town.
Black Cove is slightly more spacious than Haven, at least it feels like it, but all supernatural towns are on the smaller side due to the sanctuary ward needed to keep humans out.
Everything has to be close together and condensed to fit within the ward, so even though Greer’s house is outside the downtown area, it’s far from a long walk.
The club is on Main Street, and even once I’m several blocks down, there are still a fair number of people around. A lot of the businesses in Black Cove are open at night to service the nocturnal crowd.
The air is cool and much fresher than it was in the alley. I can’t help but wonder if I just missed Fergus. To be fair, I’m normally not off for another thirty minutes. It would have been pure chance for him to run into me when I left early.
Well, unless he was stalking me.
Sometimes I wonder what’s wrong with me that I haven’t found my mate or mates yet. Hell, I’d even settle for an unhinged stalker. It can be romantic under the right circumstances. Two of my dads stalked my mom for ages before she even knew they existed.
Hazel has two mates of her own now.
And I’m still completely alone.
It’s hard not to feel left out.
I want to be loved too.
I’m still young, and I know that. I guess it just always feels like I’m behind in life when I compare myself to my twin.
Not that falling in love is a race.
Gods.
I’m pathetic.
A cool breeze rips through the sidewalk as I cross the street. Without any of the buildings to block the gust, it cuts right through the dress all servers are required to wear when we’re on the floor at Chaos.
I could bring clothes and change in the locker room, but I like to shower when I first get home. I’d rather put on fresh clothes after that, so I don’t dirty another outfit just for the walk home.
Footfalls land on the sidewalk behind me, but I don’t speed up or lessen my pace. For whatever reason, I assume it must be Fergus, finally catching up with me after realizing I left early.
Only…
That doesn’t make any sense.
He’s always silent when he moves.
My vampiric senses are even more acute than the ones I get from my shifter side, and I’ve never heard him coming when he catches up with me while I’m walking home.
My nose twitches, and my head cocks to the side. There’s nothing at first, but the longer I huff, the more I pick up. Distinct smells from multiple wolves hit me all at once, making me go rigid.
The only group of wolves I’ve seen in Black Cove at all during the time I’ve been here are the guys I served tonight.
They were never aggressive or straight-up disrespectful, but they did set me on edge. Especially the looks from the alpha at the back of the table.
Are an alpha’s senses of smell stronger than other wolf shifters?
Maybe.
But much like the universe gave Hazel an added layer of protection with her scent, anyone who smells me thinks I’m a vampire. Well, it’s either a gift from the powers that be, or my wolf isn’t strong enough to overpower the scent of my vampiric side.
At least one of the shifters is in wolf form. The clicking of its nails on the concrete somewhere nearby proves that.
A large, warm hand wraps around my wrist, spinning me around. I stumble backward, trying to rip my arm away.
There’s not just one guy but two—one of the men from the left side of the table and the guy from the right side.
My fangs descend, and my eyes glow red in warning.
“Let me go,” I hiss as my claws elongate.
“A vampire, exactly like I thought,” the man holding me says.
The jerk next to him eyes me from head to toe. “Not bad to look at, though, is she? No one back at the pack would have to know.”
My skin crawls.
Sometimes I really miss Haven.
Everyone has always had a healthy fear of my fathers, but once Hazel came along, people gave both of us a wide berth. They knew fucking with me meant fucking with her, and no one wants to go up against a devourer.
Movement on my right catches my attention, and I stumble back as the third shifter, in wolf form, approaches. The asshole holding my arm doesn’t let me put any real distance between us, yanking me back to him with force.
“Why was Bryant so obsessed with watching you? What relationship do you have with the Bishop alpha?” the man holding me asks, lining his tone with every bit of his alpha compulsion.
Okay, so this guy is also an alpha.
Just a much weaker one than the guy who was at the back of the table. His name must be Bryant because he did seem fond of watching me.
My chin tilts in the air as I refuse to answer. My wolf pushes me to be compliant, but my vampiric side says fuck that.
The weaker alpha wraps his free hand in my hair, yanking me up on my tiptoes. He releases my wrist and grabs my jaw, tilting my face to his. “Do you really want to test your chances against three wolves, vampire?”
On a rare occasion, I wish Hazel and I had twin telepathy. She’d siphon over in two seconds flat and suck these guys’ souls out before they could lay a finger on me.
Sometimes she pops in on me to check when I’m stressed or anxious, but she swears she can’t read my mind. She also says that she doesn’t have the ability to tell what I’m doing when we’re far apart.
I’m not sure she would tell me the truth if she did.
“I don’t know any of you,” I say, fighting the urge to try my luck.
I’m the anti-aging type of immortal, but if someone were to remove my head or my heart, I’d be done for.
There’s no coming back from that, not even with a reaper as a father.
“He was checking out my tits. That’s why I left. I have a boyfriend.”
Okay, that part is a lie.
But fuck these guys.
I don’t owe them the truth.
“Either way, Bryant wanted her,” the other shifter says. “We might as well have some fun.”
Fighting back might be my only option.