Chapter 8
Shane
The coolness coming from the stone around the window seeped into my hot skin.
My wolf rumbled with need as the scent of the nearby forest blew in through the open window.
He wanted to run, and I was with him all the way—but not yet.
I felt stronger than I ever had, but I could also feel a restlessness, a need to hunt and feed, simmering beneath my skin.
I wasn’t in control enough to shift into our new vampire hybrid.
The view across the Count’s… No. I shook my head.
..Balthazar’s estate always stole my breath.
I was born in rural Ireland but moved to Belfast at a young age and never left the city.
Foster homes and constantly hiding my shifter side had kept me away from the nature and gorgeous scenery of my home.
I left at fifteen and moved to London, hoping to get a job there.
The first time I shifted had taken me unawares, and I’d found myself in pain and alone in an alley until another wolf had found me.
Jasper Dean had changed my life when he offered me the protection of the rogue alpha pack.
That group of alpha shifters weren’t bound by strict pack laws and roamed free, but it hadn’t taken me long to understand that they always returned to Jasper if they needed help.
Because it wasn’t a formal pack, I’d had the freedom to do as I pleased without the rules and hierarchy I’d always rebelled against. It had been ideal for a teenage wolf shifter still trying to find himself.
It was only after I’d been drugged and incarcerated in an under-the-radar prison for supernaturals, courtesy of a vile bastard called Doherty, that I’d used every drop of my power to become a pack Alpha to survive.
Once we’d escaped that prison, I became Alpha of Hope.
Hope was a shifter town in Canada that had grown from the ragtag group of prison escapees who’d opted to stay to a thriving town and pack under Connor Rawson’s protection.
I rubbed a hand over my face, erasing the horrible memories that thoughts of the prison triggered, and, instead, tried to remember the good times from the past few years.
Lina’s friendship, building a pack and town I was proud of, taking responsibility for others, and ensuring they were well cared for, but, most of all, enjoying each day I’d survived that hellhole.
I’d survive this shite situation, too. I’d learn to cope.
Even if, right now, it didn’t feel like I could.
I was a monster. A living, breathing wolf and vampire hybrid.
I sucked in a harsh breath, unsure why Balthazar had saved me.
Especially when I wasn’t sure if that was the best thing for anyone—even me.
After finding Bal flat on his stomach and practically unconscious a few hours ago, my adrenaline had spiked.
Saving him wasn’t a choice, simply something I had to do.
I’d felt strong as I’d slipped out of bed.
It had been a shock to see the bulk that had returned to my muscles, and though my brain was still foggy about what had happened, I knew he’d fed me, and not just with blood but with pleasure.
It was strange to think about the fear and animosity I’d felt for him before my bloodlust because the only fear I’d felt right then was that he was going to die.
I was such an abomination that I’d drained a powerful, eternal vampire of his life force.
My heart had almost stopped when I’d seen Bal so depleted and weak.
I’d barely been able to take a breath and yell for help.
There’d been no holding my wolf back, and by the time Davlov had run in, I was in full-on protective mode.
Sorcha’s scent had hit me like a freight train, and, suddenly, all bets were off.
I’d simultaneously wanted to drain every drop of her sweet blood and fuck her until she had no doubt who she belonged to.
But those base instincts were tempered by wanting to protect her and Bal from the other vampire who’d dared enter the room.
Yet, it had been ridiculous how easy my feral, possessive side had been soothed by Sor’s calming voice and closeness.
If she’d told my wolf to lie down and roll over, I’m convinced he would have.
He'd decided she was his mate, and nothing was going to change that.
Not now, not ever. Which was a problem in itself.
Bal had been right, I wasn’t safe to be around.
Even now, I could feel an unprovoked rage and hunger churning deep in my belly.
His warning for her to stay away when she had gifted him her precious blood had only enraged me more.
Her devastated expression after Bal's dismissal had made me want to punch him, and I’d immediately wanted to take that pain away.
Sorcha had been used so many times in her life, and Bal had gone from respecting her gift to destroying her in the space of a few minutes.
He had no idea how much he’d hurt her when he’d rejected her offer of more blood.
Especially when I doubted there was room in his life for love or feelings of any kind. If he was even capable of such things.
I scrubbed my hands over my face, trying to erase my lingering tiredness.
My reaction to Sorcha was…unsettling, especially when I also longed for Bal to touch me again.
I hadn’t fought his command to lie down next to him, but he hadn’t touched me.
I’d quickly fallen asleep and awoken alone in the bed, my stomach instantly twisting as memories of his hands on me, of mine on him, hit me like the hottest porn I’d ever seen.
I tensed as the shower shut off. Before I could decide whether to go and grab a shower myself or deal with my quickly growing erection, there was a knock at the door.
Nope. No way was anyone coming into this room.
Not when Bal was about to walk out of the bathroom looking like sin personified.
I gritted my teeth and remained quiet, hoping whoever it was would get bored and leave.
I knew Balthazar would have heard the knock, but it wasn’t the bathroom door that opened.
Davlov strode in holding a cool box. His cold gaze flicked sideways, running over me, assessing.
I had no idea what for, but my whole body locked up at his scent infiltrating our space, our room.
I fought to push my wolf back and keep the snarl off my face.
I regarded him steadily, hiding my fury that this vampire who shared so much of Bal’s life, and had for so long, just walked into our space.
The space where so much had happened between us.
I smirked a little as Davlov’s eyes drifted to the rumpled sheets.
Yeah, suck that, arsehole. The whole room smelled of sex, and the bed was stained with our combined releases.
Rather than the sight disgusting me, I felt only satisfaction.
Davlov took in my smirk and narrowed his eyes.
But he didn’t comment other than to say, “I’ll send the maid with some clean bedding, and tell her to leave it outside the door. ”
I just stared silently at him, wanting to rip his throat out. He was still in our room.
“Thank you, Dav. She can leave it at the top of the stairs. I’ll inform you when it’s safe for the housekeepers to come back to this wing.”
Balthazar’s voice washed over me, its smooth, deep tone shooting straight to my cock.
Slowly, I turned my attention to him. Fuck, he looked good with nothing but a towel wrapped around his hips and rubbing his long hair with another.
I wanted that hair wrapped around my fist as I pounded into him from behind.
Jesus, I needed to get a handle on the lust he stoked in my blood every time I saw him.
I wasn’t stupid; he’d fed me. In vampire terms, that meant he owned me now.
I was linked to his household and beholden to him.
I also wasn’t stupid enough to think what had happened between us meant anything.
He was ancient and must have done this with countless other vampires, so it was nothing to him.
I couldn’t stop the surge of jealousy and gut-wrenching pain I felt at the thought of him doing what he’d done to me with someone else.
It didn’t matter that I was behaving like a jealous teenager with his first crush; I couldn’t seem to stop.
Though it was clear he’d made a deal of some kind with Connor about me.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been kept in his home and observed like a bug under a microscope.
I’d have been locked in some cell in the middle of nowhere and left to go insane, or those hands that had dragged such pleasure from me would have snapped my neck.
Fuck only knew why Bal had saved my life in that cave, but it wasn’t because he cared about my future.
My eyes narrowed on his face. No. Supes as old as him didn’t have hearts; they couldn’t afford to.
Which meant he had a reason behind saving me. I just had to find out what it was.
It didn’t change the way my body reacted to him, though.
My stomach tensed, and blood flowed south.
It was a strange sensation to react so viscerally to someone.
Male or not, I’d never experienced such potent desire for anyone.
Sex had always been to scratch an itch, and because it was expected for the Alpha of a pack to have a steady stream of lovers until he met his mate.
In my peripheral vision, Davlov studied me as I studied Bal.
Bal tilted his head slightly, the knowing glint in his eyes making my heart jump.
I'd taken the coward's way out and chosen not to find out precisely what my bloodlust would entail. I hadn’t wanted to, not when it would have been worse to know and worry about it.
Yet, no matter what came next, I was grateful that Bal had been there.
“You can put that over there.” Bal gestured to the box Davlov carried.