Page 18 of Forbidden Daddy Mate

“I think you know perfectly well what we want with you,” Varin said. “Either that, or you’re not as clever as everyone made you out to be. As for the girl, unfortunately, my friend here has taken a bit of a liking to her. I don’t think he’s going to let her go just yet.”

“And you think I’m going to just let that happen?” I barked. “You’re not that stupid.”

Pointed teeth showed behind Varin’s arrogant smirk. “You’re assuming, of course, that you would have any say in the matter at that point,” he said almost conversationally. The faintest hint of caramel, covering up the stench of decay, came toward me.

“This is fine,” he continued in a silky-smooth voice that could have curdled milk. “You don’t have anything to worry about. Relax. Go sit on the couch. The girl’s a nuisance you’re glad to be rid of.”

I grinned, showing fangs. “That’s not going to work on me, vampire,” I said. One of the most extensive trainings I’d given the Silver Wolves was how to fight trances and compulsions.

Varin clicked his teeth, annoyed. “I suppose it doesn’t matter,” he said. “She’s compulsion enough. One wrong move from you, and you get to watch her blood spill over the floor.”

The shadows moved. Two more vampires emerged from the darkness, leering at me. I looked back at Varin. The triumphant look on his face told me he’d won. I wasn’t going to get out of this alive.

“I suppose I’ll have to deal with the rest of your lot some other time,” he said. “But one less now is one less to worry about. And we got a consolation prize at the very least.” He looked at the new vampires. “You know what to do.”

As he and Varin dragged Freya to the door, the rest of the vampires moved in.

Chapter 8 - Freya

Everything was fine. Great, even.

Someone pulled me by the arm, one hand gripping the back of my neck, leading me out the door. I could feel my wolf snarling and fighting to get out. But she was worrying over nothing. I wanted to do this. Was happy to.

A roar cut through the veil of bliss and brought me crashing back down to reality. The gentle pressure on my bicep turned to sharp nails digging into my arm. What was I doing? Something important was going on. Something bad. But I couldn’t tell what.

Across the room, a large black wolf was flanked by two men. They lunged at him, but he barely seemed to notice they were there. Instead, he swiped at both of them with his claws, knocking them away with ease as if they were nothing more than ragdolls. Then, while they were struggling back to their feet, he moved, jumping over the barrier and charging toward me.

Seeing Malcolm racing toward me brought me fully back to reality. I started struggling, my teeth turning to fangs as I tried to wrench myself from Tyr’s grip.

“No,” Tyr snarled. His nails dug deeper, piercing the skin as he tried to pin me in place. “You’re coming with me.”

That smell of caramel brushed against me, and I could feel myself falling back under whatever spell he was holding over me. I was fading fast. I couldn’t go back down. If I did, that would be the end of it. I’d be a goner.

While I still had the ability to do so, I shifted, letting my wolf take over. As I did, I yanked my arm free of his grip, drawing jagged slashes along my arm. I yelped in pain, the injury so bad that I couldn’t put weight on that leg in wolf form. I swiped out with it, trying to keep Tyr at arm’s length even as I tried to figure out what had happened. Claws dragged along his chest, tearing into his shirt and his skin. Tyr hissed, baring fangs at me as he made another grab for me, reaching for my neck as if he could pull me along by the scruff.

Malcolm barreled into him, pushing him away. His jaws clamped down, ready to bite into Tyr’s throat. Which meant he didn’t see Varin creeping up behind him. I howled, trying to limp toward them fight even as my front leg ached. But the yowl was enough. Malcolm spun just in time, snapping his teeth at the oncoming attacker. Varin dodged just in time.

Varin looked at Malcolm, then at me, blood dripping from my arm and bristling. I could see the calculation in his eyes as he tried to weigh his options. His eyes darted behind Malcolm, locking on something above the wolf’s head, his lips quirking upward. I turned and saw what it was. My stomach clenched and I let out a growl moments before the two vampires Malcolm had knocked out earlier would have jumped on him. He heard, dodging out of the way just in time, lashing out and slashing his claws across their chests. Eyes wide, the vampires staggered away, clutching their stomachs. They looked at Varin, then at Malcolm before staggering out of the house, fleeing as fast as they could, leaving Malcolm and I against the two vampires, Tyr bleeding and Varin looking furious.

I could tell Varin knew they wouldn’t win this battle. He’d lost the element of surprise, and without it, Malcolm would end him in no time.

He turned, nodding to Tyr. A split second later, they were gone.

Malcolm stared at the door for a long moment, fur still bristling. He turned around and padded toward me, shifting from the great black wolf to the broad-chested man. Panting, he hurried over to me. I snarled, shoulders hunched and fangs bared, waiting for them to come back or for a new threat to emerge. My front paw stayed in the air, blood dripping from the jagged scar.

“It’s all right,” Malcolm said. “I think they’re gone. We can put up protections for the rest of the evening and leave tomorrow.”

It took a moment of being enveloped in Malcolm’s scent to get my wolf to calm down and accept the fact that we were no longer in danger. Finally, I shifted, my body shivering as the cold air from the open door slammed into my bare skin.

“What happened?” Malcolm asked. “Do you remember?”

“I…” I scrunched my face, trying to bring back the memories. “I was sleeping. Then I woke up and Tyr was hovering over me. At first, I was terrified. I was going to scream, then tear his throat out. Then he told me I didn’t need to scream or worry, and I believed him. Everything after that, I remember it like it was through a fog. Like I was disassociated with it. I can’t explain it other than that.”

“Hypnosis and compulsion,” he said. “They sort of go hand in hand. Here, let me take a look at you.”

I was suddenly, painfully aware of the fact that I was naked in front of him. On the whole, nudity wasn’t uncommon for shifters, especially if they were moving in and out of wolf form. But something about Malcolm made it ten times worse, making me suddenly self-conscious. I covered my breasts with my arms, which only squished them together and brought more attention to them.

“For injuries,” he clarified. His eyes honed in on my arm and narrowed. “I don’t like the looks of this one.”

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