Page 42 of Hot Vampire Next Door: Season Five

Episode Eighty-Five

NO ONE IS EVER READY FOR WAR

I’m still buzzing from the orgasm Bran gave me in the sauna when I’m ushered into a closed room in the heart of the pack house.

Everyone is talking at once.

But Bran is silent beside me.

It’s not that he doesn’t have something to say, it’s that he wants to hear all the things that are said.

We are at war with the fae because of me and while the very thought terrifies me, I can’t imagine facing this without Bran. He can be terrifying. And I know he’s more than capable of death and destruction. The only thing that might hold him back is his need to protect me.

He glances over at me as if he can sense where my thoughts have gone. The considerable height difference between us means he has to look down, then down some more. His arms are crossed over his chest making his biceps bulge against the sleeves of his black t-shirt.

“What are you thinking?” he asks me.

Across the room, Fox, Cal, and three other shifters are in a heated discussion about what they should do about this latest development. A woman on Cal’s left shakes her head at something Fox said. Fox frowns at her. Beside him, a lean man with a big beard and short brown hair scoffs and then gestures to the woman sitting in front of him.

“I’m thinking that it’s too soon,” I tell Bran. “I’m not ready to fight my own brother and I’m sure as hell not ready to fight the queen.”

“Let me tell you a secret, little mouse.” Bran turns to face me, arms still crossed. He dominates my line of sight and overwhelms me with his presence. Will that feeling ever ebb? Will I ever get used to having Bran Duval all to myself? Every taut muscle, every hard edge?

I’m not sure that I’d even want it to.

“Okay, tell me,” I say.

“No one is ever ready for war.”

I sigh and roll my eyes because it’s such a Bran thing to say.

“I’m serious.” His arms drop to his sides. “It’s easy to think everyone else knows what they’re doing. But they don’t.”

“But I bet my brother can control his power.”

Fox grumbles at something the bearded man says and they dissolve into an argument.

“Every ounce of power you possess right now, in this moment, is power you’ve always possessed. Which means you’ve always been capable of controlling it. It’s not a skill you must learn, like writing or stabbing.

“Power is no different than the blood that pumps in your veins and you never have to think about your heart beating for it to work.”

I sigh and scrub at my face. “It’s not that easy.”

“It is. You’re just making it hard.”

“Cal told me that it was supposed to be hard.”

Bran looks across the room at the Alpha currently in discussion with a dark-haired woman half his size. He’s listening intently like what she says matters to him despite him being the one in charge.

“What does a beast know about wielding fae powers?” Bran asks.

“I heard that,” Cal says before turning back to the woman.

Bran ignores the Alpha. “The point is,” he starts, but I cut him off.

“The point is no one here knows what it is to wield fae power. I get it. But there’s something else we’re lacking.”

Bran frowns. “Go on.”

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