Page 4 of Chasing Secrets
Jalen’s apartment suddenly felt too quiet with the vampire gone. The aftermath of violence surrounded him in broken furniture and scattered possessions. Blood stained his carpet, glass crunched underfoot, and the smell of sweat and fear hung in the air.
Chase moved closer, his presence somehow calming despite everything Jalen had witnessed. “Are you okay?” he asked, his voice gentler than before.
Jalen opened his mouth but found he had no idea how to respond. Was he okay? Physically, yes. Mentally? He’d just discovered vampires were real and his apartment had turned into a WWE ring. So probably not.
“I...” He struggled to find words that wouldn’t make him sound completely unhinged. “I don’t know.”
Looking at Chase felt like recognizing someone from a dream. Familiar in a way that defied explanation, as if Jalen had known him his entire life instead of meeting him during a supernatural home invasion.
“We’ll send a patrol car to watch your apartment for the rest of the night,” Deputy Leverton said, surveying the damage with a practiced eye. “You should be safe now, but better safe than sorry.”
“I’ll stay with him,” Chase interjected, his voice leaving no room for argument.
Jalen’s rational mind wanted to refuse. This man was a stranger—a stranger with claws and canines who’d just demolished half his living room. But something deeper, more primal, screamed for Chase to stay, to remain close.
But he didn’t get any say in Jalen’s life. As hot as he was, as drawn to him as Jalen was, Chase was still a stranger. Jalen didn’t need yet another person controlling his life.
“No.” He forced the word past reluctant lips even as everything inside of him demanded he take it back. “Thanks, but I just want to be alone.”
The cops had the vampire in custody, so there was no reason for Chase to stick around.
Chase’s eyes narrowed slightly, as if he could sense the lie. “You sure about that?”
Jalen wasn’t sure about anything anymore. But he needed time to process, to try making sense of a world that had suddenly expanded to include monsters.
“I’m sure,” he lied. “I just want this night to be over.”
Deputy Leverton nodded and headed for the door, pausing only to hand Jalen his card. “Call if you need anything. We’ll have that patrol car outside within ten minutes.”
As Chase stood by the door, Jalen felt an overwhelming urge to step forward, to curl into those muscular arms that had fought so fiercely to protect him. Honestly, the feeling scared him almost more than the damn vampire had.
Instead, he gripped the edge of his counter and stayed put. “Thank you,” he managed, the words inadequate for what Chase had done.
Chase lingered in the doorway, like he wanted to say something else, but he didn’t. He just nodded once, jaw set, and stepped out into the hallway.
As Jalen closed the door behind him, the solid click of the lock seemed to finalize something. Whatever had happened tonight, whatever Chase was, Jalen knew with bone-deep certainty that this wouldn’t be the last time their paths crossed.
And he couldn’t decide if he should be scared out of his mind or if he was hoping for it.
Chapter Two
Chase descended the apartment building stairs quickly, his arm throbbing where the vampire’s teeth had pierced his skin. Blood trickled down his forearm, dripping red like Hansel and Gretel’s breadcrumb trail. With each step, anger surged through him. He’d found his mate, only to discover a vampire had already marked him as prey.
It was the same vampire from that alley, the one who’d delivered a kidney shot to Chase, forcing him to shift, the one Chase had gutted, but the vampire had still gotten away.
Even though Chase had healed, his side hurt just thinking about the bastard and the damage he’d caused.
As he reached the bottom of the stairwell, shouts erupted from outside. Through the glass door, he spotted the vampire thrashing wildly, his face contorted with rage, fangs fully extended as he tried to bite Deputy Caleb Santi.
“Shit,” Chase muttered, bursting through the door into the humid night air. He sprinted toward the patrol car, where both deputies wrestled with the vampire. Which spoke volumes since Deputy Santi was a lion shifter and Leverton was a cheetah shifter. Both men were strong enough to subdue one vampire.
So why couldn’t they?
Somehow the bloodsucker had broken free of his handcuffs, the metal links dangling from one wrist as he fought against the officers. Without hesitation, Chase lunged into the fray, grabbing the vampire from behind and yanking him backward.
“We meet again, mutt,” the vampire sneered, his breath hot against Chase’s face. “Still playing hero?”
Chase tightened his grip, his claws threatening to emerge. “And look who didn’t learn his lesson the first time.”
