Page 21 of The First Year Continued
“Stupid mutt. She’s mine.”
The fuck she was. I ran after him again, this time sinking my canines right into his thigh. He might be a vampire, but injuries to the thigh hurt no matter what species you were.
“That’s it.” He dropped Roxy who instantly came to her senses once he wasn’t touching her.
The vampire rounded me, ready to strike.
Then Roxy shifted. She shifted, and now I had another fighter on my side. Too bad Evander and Sol weren’t here. This vampire would’ve been dead at first sight. Not that I wasn’t a good fighter, but a little help never hurt anyone.
I snapped a few times at the pallid bloodsucker, trying to keep his attention off my mate. He had no scent, which I foundinteresting. No wonder I couldn’t pick it up that night. I was sure now, the shadow person we chased was him.
He’d come to get my woman.
Roxy lunged forward, piercing his calf. I heard the sound of her fangs crushing against his bone. He cried out and landed on his knees in front of me.
One second couldn’t be wasted. I stepped forward and bit down on his neck as hard as I could. His acid-like blood filled my mouth, and my wolf turned to spit it out, poison as it was. His body thumped on the ground, lifeless, even though he was undead in the first place.
I shifted back to two legs and ran over to Roxy. “Roxy, I’m here. Shift back. I’ve got you. It’s over.”
She looked at me with wide wolf eyes and in seconds shifted to two legs. I checked her body, not caring anything about her nudity but looking for new bites, new wounds. Anywhere that fucker had hurt her, but I saw nothing more than the bite to her stomach and the one on her neck.
Still, who knew what plans he had for my mate once she was all the way under his spell.
“You saved me,” she said, out of breath.
“I will always come for you.”
Chapter Fourteen
Roxy
He saved me.
“I almost killed you, and you saved my life,” I whispered. “Maybe I really am a vampire.”
“You did not almost kill me. Under the most duress possible, you withdrew and did not drain me. I don’t know a lot about vampires, but I suspect stopping isn’t in their repertoire, at least not unless they have a master making them do it. Come on, Roxy, let’s go home.”
“I’d have said Marked Blood isn’t home, but now, I feel like anywhere you and Sol and Evander are is my home.” I tried to take a step but wobbled and nearly fell. “I might need help. Can you take my arm?”
“I’ll take all of you.” He lifted me into his arms, the second time that had happened with someone tonight, but this time instead of being tossed over a shoulder with my head hanging down, I was cradled gently against his chest. “Come on, Roxy. You’ve had a long night.”
“You don’t have to carry me.” No matter how secure it made me feel. Loved…even. Though we hadn’t said the words.
“I don’t have to. I want to. You’ve ruined your clothes again, by the way. Isn’t undressing before taking our fur, Shifting 101?”
I sighed. “The first time, my wolf was in charge, and she doesn’t much care about clothes. Tonight, there just wasn’t time. I had to fight with my ma—with you.”
He started toward the building. “Say it, Roxy. Say the word.”
“I can’t.”
“Then I can. You shifted and ruined your nightclothes to fight with your mate. Do you have any idea how sexy that is? That my mate wants to fight with me?”
“Sexy?” Panicked was more like it. “What would that thing have done to me?”
“Let’s not think about it. I’m going to take you to the room where you can rest.”
“Mm-hmm.” I let my head rest on his shoulder, arms looped around his neck, while he carried me all the way to my room and laid me gently on the bed. “Thank you.”
