Page 40 of Love Bites

Though a magical being could survive losing their mate, the bond would remain permanently. It would make me miss him desperately, too.

I didn’t want to experience that. Not even a little.

He closed and locked the back of the truck behind my sisters, and was in the driver’s seat a moment later. Leaning over the gap between us, he lifted my hand and my rag, checking my wound.

A growl escaped him, and he pressed it harder to my cut.

“You’re bleeding too,” I said.

“I’m fine.” He grabbed his phone just long enough to send a message, then dropped it and pulled away from my home.

My gaze lingered on the building that had represented safety for so long. It hurt like hell to know we would never be able to go back.

I wasn’t going to argue with Damian about his health. We were only mates because he’d given me no other choice.

“Did the wolves go through our things?”

He made a noise of confirmation. “The equipment for your online stores was destroyed. Most of your clothing was covered in wolf urine, or just plain torn to pieces. I’ll pay for it all to be replaced.”

“We have plenty of money,” I whispered, as we turned away from my home. “We can replace it ourselves. Clem and Zora love online shopping. They’ll have fun with it.”

My phone vibrated in my pocket.

I knew my sisters well enough to know it was someone sending a text to Clementine in our group chat, letting her know that our stuff was destroyed.

It vibrated again, and again, and again.

He jerked his head in a nod. “I can ask Louise to stop at a clothing store in town so you have things to wear until yours arrive.”

“My phone keeps going off, so I’m sure she’s already ordering things. We had to buy everything online in the first place, so it’s not hard to reorder. In a day or two, I’m sure we’ll have plenty to wear, so we can save Lou a trip.”

He made a noise of frustration, but didn’t argue further.

I leaned the side of my head against the window, closing my eyes.

The rest of the drive passed quickly, and soon enough, we were in the vampires’ underground parking garage again.

I felt intensely dizzy when Damian opened the passenger door, unbuckling my seat belt and lifting me out like I weighed nothing.

If my world hadn’t been spinning, I might’ve insisted that I could walk.

But it was.

So I didn’t.

I realized there was a swarm of vampires around us when Damian gave a few commands without setting me down on my feet.

Open the back of the truck.

Help my sisters out.

Get them anything they need.

It occurred to me just how loud the garage had been when a set of elevator doors closed around us, silencing the noise.

I lifted my arms to wrap around Damian’s neck, and the lightest brush of his emotions rolled through me. I couldn’t tell what they were exactly, but they felt nice anyway. Nice, but maybe a little too intimate.

I wasn’t drinking them in—but I could feel them.

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