Page 60 of Cursed Wolf

“What did you do to her?” My wolf simmered just under my skin, punctuating every word with a growl.

“Relax, she’s fine. Just put her to sleep, after compelling some very interesting information out of her.”

“Did you bite her?” I didn’t give a fuck what he compelled Emmaline to say. If he gave her so much as a papercut, I’d unleash all the fury of my wolf on him.

Thorne gave me a bored look. “I don’t actually prefer the taste of humans. I will say it was tempting to get a rise out of you, but you can lower your hackles. All of her blood is safely inside her body.”

“Then give her to me.” I extended my arm out across the barrier, the prickle of magic making my skin itch. “Hand over my mate and I’ll tell my pack there was no issue here. You can carry on skulking in the dark like you always do.”

The vampire didn’t bring her any closer. He actually backed up a step, turning his body and Emmaline away from me, and flashed a grin full of fangs when I growled.

“I will be happy to hand over your mate, werewolf, but I need more from you than that.”

“Name it,” I snarled. “And do it quickly, before I lose patience and tear out your throat.”

“I want you to look away from the rumors of my kind being seen in Helios City,” Thorne said. “If you smell or see one of us on those streets, no you didn’t. If Camael recruits you for K-9 duty, you’ll find no traces of us. As far as Howling Death is concerned, the reports of vampires in the angel’s city are completely unsubstantiated. Am I clear, werewolf?”

The ramifications of what he was asking hit me with a cold dose of clarity, cutting through the heat of my aggression. For one, it wasn’t my decision to make, it was Derric’s. But what floored me was this creature, a centuries-long enemy, was asking me to side with him. To betray an ally for his benefit.

I shook my head, a mirthless laugh of disbelief escaping my lips. “You have the biggest, brassiest balls of any vampire I’ve ever met, to ask such a thing of me.”

Thorne wasn’t smiling anymore. He stared at me with those creepy red eyes, the waning moon reflecting silver in his pupils. “I want your word, werewolf. Now, under the moon. And I’ll hand over your mate, safe and sound.”

“What are you even doing in Helios City?” I asked him. Not that I cared, but the notion was just absurd. Angels used sunlight to power everything. Vampires couldn’t stand daylight unless they were hopped up on a drug called Draitrium, which Thorne supposedly didn’t condone. So what kind of business would he have there?

“Not your concern,” the vampire said. “No one is getting hurt. You don’t need to know anything beyond that.”

“Bullshit. How are you even getting into the city?”

“Not through your territory, don’t worry,” he sneered. “I don’t enjoy stepping in dog shit while crossing borders.”

“I’m not the Alpha,” I said. “Even if I wanted to say yes to such an insane fucking demand, I can’t make that decision.”

“You can and just not tell your pack.” Thorne shifted Emmaline in his arms and her head lolled on the top of her spine. “Or I can drain your mate faster than you can blink.”

“You’re dead if your fangs touch her.” I let my wolf rise, the shift effortless with our combined protective instincts over Emmaline.

I dropped to all fours and approached Throne, my ears flattened and all my sharp teeth on display. The barrier’s magic floated over me, a signal that I had left my territory and entered his.

Like I cared. He could run straight to hell itself and I’d still go after him to get my mate back.

Thorne backed up a few steps and I followed, snarling. Vampires had incredible speed over short distances, but even if I lost him temporarily, I could track his scent and Emmaline’s. Would he run like a coward, though? Even bottom feeders like vampires had to have some pride.

To my surprise, Thorne began lowering himself to the ground. His eyes remained fixed on me as he dropped a knee and began to gently lay Emmaline on the forest floor. Her eyes were still closed, her body slack, but her brow pinched in a frown as Throne removed his hands from her.

I hated that he had touched her at all and darted forward with a whine to check on her. Her breaths seemed normal, and I smelled nothing suspicious on her mouth or skin. She stirred under the frantic contact of my cold, wet nose dragging all over her. When she moaned a little, a sign that she was waking up, I couldn’t help myself from taking small affectionate licks of her face.

“Tryn?” she mumbled woozily, hands reaching for me.

Before she could touch me, something barreled into me with the force of a car and sent me rolling and tumbling away.

I coughed and wheezed as I finally came to a stop, struggling for a breath as I got back to all fours. Fuck, how had I been so short-sighted? Of course Thorne would seek to lower my defenses and use my mate as a distraction.

A scream wrenched me around, and the sight before me would have me seeing red for years to come.

Thorne had Emmaline’s hair in his fist, pulling her head back to expose her throat. She scratched and tore at his other arm braced across her torso, her legs scrambling for purchase in the dirt.

The fucking vampire had the balls to make eye contact with me and and smirk as he lowered his fangs to my mate’s neck.

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