Page 12 of Blood Pack Beginning

“Free to go where?” She cocked her head. “Your town is gone.” Literally. Tim had started a fire at the gas station upon leaving to ensure the whole place got wiped, lest the massacre bring unwanted attention.

“Me and Diego have a Pack to return to,” Cyrus replied. “And Amir’s got friends in the city who would take him and Omar in.”

“Going to pretend nothing happened?” Sasha riposted. “Don’t want to avenge the deaths of the people you knew?”

Amir’s jaw locked. “Trust me, we’d love to mete out some justice, but from what you’ve said, we’d be outnumbered, assuming we could even find those responsible.”

“What if you had some help?”

“From you?” Cyrus blurted out with a shake of his head.

“Got a problem working with a woman?” Her tart reply.

“No,” Diego replied. “It’s the whole ‘I want to suck your blood’ bit that’s freaking him out. Even if movies are fiction, your kind don’t exactly have the best reputation.” His lips quirked, and he cocked an eyebrow at her. While Cyrus might have a problem with her nature, Diego appeared accepting and curious. So was she, as it turned out. The man had a fine ass.

“Werewolves aren’t exactly esteemed either,” she pointed out as a rebuttal.

“Why should we even trust you?” Cyrus interjected.

“I could ask the same,” she countered. “I’ll be honest. I’m not sure we’re cut out to be allies, but my boss has different thoughts on the matter.”

“You don’t agree?” Cyrus caught her hesitation.

“No, but it’s not my decision, hence why I’m supposed to ask if you’ll join our cause. Help us fight those who would hurt not just vampire but Lycan. Whose actions risk exposing us to the world.”

“Not sure what we can do to help. You guys kicked our asses.” Amir’s wry reply came with a roll of those big shoulders. “Meaning you you just want us as cannon fodder, making you no better than the other side.”

“Hardly,” she scoffed. “Roderick and Morpheus managed to turn wolves into mindless drones. We’re not compelling anyone. In fact, we believe that all you need is a bit of training and you’ll fare better next time you face one of us.”

“Training by who? You?” Cyrus eyed her with a sneer as he looked her up and down. Though he appeared surly, she noticed his gaze lingered on her curves.

“Yes, me.” She placed a hand on her hip and popped it out, drawing his attention. His eyebrows furrowed, and he abruptly looked away. It amused her to know that he was rankled by his primal attraction toward her. The fact he fought it made her all the more determined to have him succumb to her wiles.

Vampire, human, or Lycan, a man was a man.

Amir shook his head. “We ain’t fighting a woman. It’s not right.”

A reminder that Lycans were also a chauvinist society.

She let out a laugh before countering, “You didn’t have a problem when you rushed out of the room and tried to tackle me.”

“I held back once I saw it was you.” His huffed defense.

“Now who’s bullshitting?” Sasha snorted.

“I’m twice your size,” Amir pointed out.

“Didn’t seem to matter when I threw you across the room,” she reminded him.

Amir’s lips pursed. Nice lips. Pity they were perpetually set in a scowl. “You got lucky.”

“Did I? Shall I do it again?”

Amir hesitated, and Omar rushed in to be his cheerleader. “I’d like to see you try. My brother is badass. He would totally crush you if you weren’t a girl.”

“One, I’m not a girl. I am a woman. Two, I’m also a vampire. Three, only one person has ever bested me in hand-to-hand combat, and you just met him.”

“I’ll do it.” Cyrus thrust back his shoulders. “But don’t expect me to go easy on you.”

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