Page 67 of Ruthlessly Mated
A red light is dancing on Tailor’s head. It means danger. As does the screaming of our mate, but it is a different kind of danger. Finally human intelligence forces its way through our animal excitement at having tracked her down.
We’re about to be shot. This was a trap.
Of course it was.
Everything is always a trap. Every instinct, every action, every thought, every breath.
“Don’t. Move.” A deep voice comes to us.
Vampires don’t have a scent. They’re an absence of life, so how could they. They are very difficult for wolves to detect. Sometimes they might smell like human blood or molding dirt if they’ve been in the ground, but that’s not the same as having a scent.
We are surrounded. We don’t know by how many, but we know that we are. Tailor presses close to my side, a low growl emanating from his throat, looking around trying to see the predators we know are here with us.
Uncanny steps are coming toward us, shuffling through leaf mold deliberately. They want us to know they’re coming. They are slow. Unhurried. Intimidating.
Vampires don’t need to run. They either walk or seem to teleport. The walking is a choice. A kind of intimidation.
We crouch down, hackles raised. They might have bullets, silver plated I am sure, but I also don’t think they want us dead. If they did, we’d already be shot. They want to capture us. That’s worse than dying. I’d rather take a bullet than end up in a vampire’s custody.
They appear finally. Three of them. They’re dragging something with them. A crate. The sort of thing people use to transport wild animals. Sheet metal. Impenetrable by fangs and claws.
“Get in the box.”
One of the hooded creatures is speaking to us.
People think that vampires can’t walk in the day, but really they can’t handle sunlight. And, as it turns out, gloves, heavy pants, long sleeves, hoods, and a mask pretty much take care of the sunlight thing as good as anything else.
I’m going to bite this thing. I’ve already decided. I decided the minute we got into the open clearing and heard our mate shrieking in fear for our lives. Someone is getting bitten.
I lunge. A shot goes off. It misses.
I tear at the clothing of the vampire. Sun hits him. He screams. It’s very, very fucking satisfying. But it doesn’t make us any less caught. If anything, it quickly makes things worse. Five more appear in his place, and guns go off, shooting not bullets, but darts.
They hit home. Drugs hit my system. My limbs go heavy. My thoughts go dull. My brain turns off.
CHAPTER 13
Conroy
I come to in a cell, naked, cold, and fucking furious. This vampire does not know what he has done. He’s fucked up several times over. First when he hurt my mate, second when he hurt my best friend, and third when he caught me as well.
“This was a mistake,” I tell the ancient creature who inevitably comes looming out of the shadows.
This is the second time I’ve met Alexander. The first time was not pleasant, and I have no reason to think this time will be any better. He wants something from me. I know this, because I am breathing.
“I assume you’re the alpha of this little group of males,” the vampire says. “You were the mouthiest when I interrogated you the first time around, and you were the stupidest this time around. Loud and stupid usually corresponds to a threatened alpha.”
“Where is Kita?”
“Nice and safe, don’t worry about her. Worry about yourself.”
“I don’t care about myself.”
“Delightfully predictable. None of you wolves seem to have any sense of self preservation. Makes it very easy to catch you and even easier to break you. Kita has already crumbled. She doesn’t have the resilience of a wild one like you.”
She’s crumbled? That feels like a lie to me. Kita wouldn’t crumble. She wouldn’t break. She wouldn’t even bend. If he could get what he wanted out of her, he wouldn’t have me in a stone box. So he’s lying. And that means he’s probably desperate.
“You can kill me. Do whatever you want to do to me. Just free her.” I say what makes the most sense to say, playing along as if he is the powerful one who holds all the cards, etcetera.
