Page 50 of Betrayed Mate

Pawsteps stopped near me, followed by a low growl.

Wrenching my head to the side, I sank my teeth into my attacker’s neck. Blood spilled into my mouth, the taste of cotton candy and copper making me gag. My jaws slackened as a man stumbled back, his fangs still elongated. He breathed rapidly, and his pale green eyes widened, showing a dotted outline of crimson.

I stood, unable to put weight on my left foreleg, as the sound of panicked breathing and quickened hoofbeats rang in my ears—the deer were fleeing.

On my three good legs, I hunkered, preparing to pounce. The man, who had to be around my age, lifted both hands.

“I’m…I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” His bottom lip quivered, and the tantalizing yet sharp scent of citrus mixed with ozone reached my nose.

Fear.

I refused to become a bully, especially when this man was clearly struggling with being turned.

Ryker and the others reached us, and I looked at each of them, wanting to communicate somehow that this man wasn’t a risk after all, when the bastard lunged at me once more.

I stumbled back, but my injured shoulder prevented me from moving quickly enough.

As my attacker’s teeth sank into my neck, cold realization settled over me. This was it. This was my end.

But instead of ripping out my throat, he began sucking my blood.

He wanted to drain me.

Realizing he’d been overcome by bloodlust, I reached up to claw his face, but a large chestnut-brown wolf soared past my eyes, the scent immediately telling me who it was.

Ryker.

He ripped out the vampire’s throat.

Blood spilled all over my chest and front legs as the halfling retracted his teeth and desperately grasped his neck, trying to stop the blood flow.

As the blood continued to gush between his fingers, he fell on his ass, and Ryker moved to stand between us. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kendric, Xander, and Gage circle the dying attacker.

My lungs wanted to burst, but at the same time, I couldn’t fill them with air. The world underneath me quaked, making it hard to balance. No one else seemed to be having an issue, which meant I was growing weakagain.

I didn’t understand what the hell had just happened. Vampires were supposed to only be born, not created, but this person had clearly been in transition and not in his right mind. I hadn’t even sensed the threat coming, which spoke volumes about the mysterious stalker I’d thought I sensed earlier. Clearly, somethingwaswrong with me.

The moment the man quit wheezing and his heart stopped, the pain from my injuries roared to life. Ryker turned toward me, the sheen disappearing from his eyes and turning the brown so bright that his entire iris appeared gold. Something in me tugged toward him, but when I tried to move, my shoulder burned as though it might come unglued.

Concern darkened his eyes, and he trotted toward some larger oak trees twenty yards away.

I wanted to call after him not to go, which was incredibly stupid. Thankfully, I couldn’t communicate with him in this form. I only hoped my whimpers would be mistaken for a reaction to my physical injuries and not my disappointment.

The remaining three wolf shifters’ attention homed in on me for a moment, and Gage slid in to take Ryker’s spot, trying to block me from the view.

Not wanting to see the dead man anyway, I closed my eyes and tried to center my thoughts. I was too injured to shift back into human form, and we had to be at least two miles from the vampire mansion. The thought of making that journey left me damn near in tears.

The rustling of human feet had me turning in the direction Ryker had gone, and what I saw made my jaw drop.

Ryker marched toward me, naked, his entire focus locked on me.

I’d felt his muscles through his clothes, but nothing prepared me for the sight before my eyes. His six-pack flexed with each step, and the curve of his muscles made my heart skip a beat.

He strode over to me, the sheen in his eyes now so thick that I couldn’t make out the actual color.

“Like what you see, Rebel?” he rasped and clenched his jaw. Then he glanced at the wolves. “I double-checked and didn’t find anyone else either.”

Thank Fate I was in wolf form because I had no doubt that my entire body would be flushed from both desire and embarrassment. Of course the jackass would call me out on it.

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